LIlTlURY OF CONGRESS. 






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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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THE 



TRANSLATED PROPHET. 



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BY 



JOHN M. LOWEIB, D.D., 

AUTHOR OF "ESTHER AND HER TIMEy," "ADAM AND HIS TIMES," "THE 
HEBREW lAWGIVBR," "A YTEEK WITH JESUS," &C. 







I PHILADELPHIA : 
PBESBYTEMAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 
No. 821 CHESTNUT STREET. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by 

THE TRUSTEES OF THE 

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 

In tlie Clerk's OflSce of the District Court of the United States for th6 
Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



Westcott & Thomson, 
Stereotj'pers, Philada. 






CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER L 

PAGE 

Elijah's Mission in the Apostasy of Israel 5 

CHAPTER 11. 
The Persecutions of Jezebel's Days 24 

CHAPTER III. 
The Desolation of Israel 42 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Prophet by the Brook Cheritix 60 

CHAPTER V. 
The Faith of the Widow of Zarephath 79 

CHAPTER VI. 
Elijah Raising to Life the Widoy/'s Son 96 

CHAPTER VII. 
The Pious Steward op Ahab's Palace 117 

CHAPTER VIII. 
The True Troubler of Israel 134 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Decision of the Great Question 151 

3 



4 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER X. 

PA6B 

Elijah Praying upon Mount Carmel 169 

CHAPTER XI. 
Effectual, Fervent Prayer 184 

CHAPTER XII. 
Elijah on Mount Horeb 195 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Ahab and Benhadad 215 

CHAPTER XIV. 
The Vineyard of Naboth 233 

CHAPTER XV. 
The Death of Ahab 251 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Fire from Heaven 269 

CHAPTER XVII. 
The Translation of Elijah 286 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Posthumous Influence 302 

CHAPTER XIX. 
The Mount of Transfiguration 308 



THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 



CHAPTER I. 
ELIJAH'S MISSION IN THE APOSTASY OF ISBAEI, 

IF any household among us had now In its posses- 
sion an ancient and valuable book, that, had 
belonged in the same family for over two hundred 
years, that had been especially esteemed as an heir- 
loom, inseparable from the direct line of inherit- 
ance, and that had been read by each father, and 
personally handed down to each elder son with a 
sacred injunction to pass it down to his successors, 
how would such a book be prized ! We would 
take pride in preserving uninjured the ancient bind- 
ing, that could not be renewed by the taste of mod- 
ern binders; we would read the lines with greater 
interest because our fathers had read them before 
us; we would decipher the antiquated type, and 
perhaps be puzzled by the strange abbreviations of 
the earlier printers ; and if the ancestors, in their 
reading, had made brief notes upon the margin, 
these we would carefully ponder, as indicating the 
topics in which they took a special interest, and as 
giving us their views upon them. No guest could be 

5 



6 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

lono; beneath our roof till we had shown hira this 
family treasure. No costly piece of modern furni- 
ture could adorn our dwelling as compared with the 
interest and pleasure gathering about this venerable 
heir-loom. 

But we have a book : not the original, time-worn 
copy, yet the very teachings which our spiritual 
ancestry in the Church of God have possessed for 
many generations. It is not a solitary volume, to 
be held exclusively in your household or in mine. 
For many ages back has it been a dweller in many 
hands : with many-tongued voices it addresses, as 
though they were one, the separated sons of men ; 
it is equally at home when the philosopher or the 
savage asks its counsels ; it has cast down tyrants, 
it has strengthened the oppressed, awakened guilt, 
allayed anxiety, instructed the ignorant, guided the 
perplexed, consoled the sorrowing, supported mar- 
tyrs, confounded the wise, exalted the foolish, taught 
the very children, and spoken by the lips of babes. 
Especially if we belong to the great household of faith, 
to which belong still the oracles of God, then these 
sacred pages have been the delight of our spiritual 
ancestry in all the earth, in all the ages. We hold 
the book they held ; we read the words they read. 
They imitated the holy examples here recorded ; 
they died in the hopes drawn hence ; and, like in- 
teresting notes on the margin, the interpretations of 
some of the wisest and best, in the standard com- 
mentaries of the Church, teach us how tliev under- 



Elijah's mission in the apostasy of israel. 7 

stood the sacred volume. Can we wisely refuse to 
cherish such a treasure? Shall we not join our 
fathers^ studies^ and hand down to later times the 
precious legacy — the incomparable Book ? 

Our fathers have studied, let us also consider, the 
character and deeds, the history and influence of 
the prophet Elijah, one of the most remarkable of 
God's ancient servants. It may not be easy for us 
to enter fully into the spirit of such a life, to com- 
prehend the times in which he lived, to understand 
the circumstances in which he was placed, to 
take in all the difficulties with which he must con- 
tend, and so to judge wisely of his personal and 
official character. We give our careful thoughts to 
these things. We know nothing of his ancestry ; 
even the place of his birth is doubtful ; but we have 
no sympathy with the idea, conjectured by some of 
the Fathers, that he was not a Hebrew at all — at 
least not a Jew nor an Israelite — but of Ishmael- 
itish descent. The prophet needed none of the blood 
of the wild race to make him bold for God. Yet 
in our thoughts of this distinguished prophet we 
are not to think of him as possessing a character in 
wdiich we can discern no flaw, and which we might 
vainly attempt to rival. With all his excellences, 
we have the best authority for declaring in terms 
the most express that he was a man of like passions 
w^ith ourselves, James v. 17 ; and we may justly 
reflect that upon this very account we should more 
carefully study his history. 



8 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

We accord to him the reputation of a holy man ; 
yet can we not approve of his entire spirit and 
character. We recognize him as a man of great 
zeal and boldness in the service of his God ; yet 
was he not without the fears and misgivings and 
infirmities which bring him down to the level of 
our own frail and erring humanity. He stands 
forth upon the sacred page as one of the sternest 
reformers that ever called a guilty people to repent- 
ance; and yet beneath that rugged exterior there 
beat a heart of the finest and tenderest sympathy 
for human suffering, exemplifying a character, not 
seldom given in the Scriptures and found beneath 
their teachings, where an inflexible and high-toned 
sense of right is joined to the warmest and truest 
benevolence. 

More perhaps than is true of any other character 
in sacred history, the life of this man of God con- 
tains many checkered scenes and exhibits many 
■wide extremes of feeling. Here w^e have zeal as 
bold and fears as timid ; success as large and failure 
as decided ; faith as confident and yet unbelief as 
dejecting and despondent, as can be easily found in 
any wide experience of other men. If our earthly 
life is an ocean, and we are mariners upon it ; if 
the Psalmist^s description of sailors applies to us ; 
we mount up to the heavens, we go down to the 
depths, and we have melting hearts and are at our 
wits' end ; let this prophet teach us to under- 
dcrstand llie loving-kindness of the Loid. And 



ELIJAH'S MISSION IN THE APOSTASY OF ISRAEL. 9 

when we have learned all the lessons of his mortal 
life, and have gone through the annals of his earthly 
career, what shall we think of the further records 
that separated him widely from the ordinary experi- 
ence of men ? When we have passed through his 
entire history, it shall be without any call to sympa- 
thize with him in suffering the last pangs of nature, 
and without the occasion of dropping tears upon his 
grave. For one thing of his remarkable history is 
the almost unexampled fact that he never did die ; 
and even this seems almost exceeded by the further 
truth that he appeared again upon the earth, nine 
hundred years after the great reformation which 
he effected in the Jewish Church. 

If thus far we had withheld the name of this 
wonderful personage, any intelligent reader of the 
Scriptures could decide that these things apply to 
but one man in the world's eventful history. The 
prophet Elijah, the great Reformer of TsraeFs days 
of apostasy, is one of the favoured two to whom God 
hitherto has granted the privilege of departing from 
the earth without the pangs of death ; he is one 
also of another favoured two whose privilege it was 
to return to earth for a time, and to talk of 
heavenly things in mortal ears in company with the 
transfigured Son of Man. 

The great value of biography is to give us true 
views of what life is ; we are strong ourselves to do 
the work which our life sets before us when we 
sympathize with the struggles and successes of those 



10 THE TRANSLATED Pr.OPnET. 

who liave iiianfully addressed themselves to their 
duties; and though great differences may exist be- 
tween their times and our own, the principles upon 
which they lived are of sterling value for our guid- 
ance. Here we chiefly search for the great religious 
teachings that may reasonably be looked for in the 
lives of inspired proj^hets; the sacred writings, 
which purport to give us the history of Israel's 
kings, here expand their instructions, so that the 
religious condition of the people occupies more at- 
tention than the civil affairs of the kingdom; yet 
the mingling of history with religion only better 
adapts the whole to our profit. All we can expect 
in any such teachings is to find principles of perma- 
nent value, enclosed like the kernel of a nut in a 
shell of circumstances, that protects their value till 
we can secure them ; it is ours to separate between 
the transient that may be thrown away and the 
permanent which we may use. These things have 
still their needful connection. The shell and the 
kernel, taken together, make a nut; nor does the 
kernel ever grow separately. A man and his times 
make a life ; nor can we ever appreciate a man un- 
less we know his times. Our weak judgment may 
think that sometimes a man forms his aee : that 
one mind directs the current of human events for 
his generation ; and that, but for him, his entire 
nation might have known a different history. Yet 
indeed, thegreatest men and those of largest influence 
upon the world have been indebted to circumstances 



ELIJAH'S MISSION IN THE APOSTASY OF ISRAEL. 11 

and occasions they could neither create nor control, 
and we must never consent to lay aside that largest 
view of human history which gives free scope to 
human agencies, yet places every man and all gen- 
erations under a Supreme Euler. 

But neither is it desirable nor possible to separate 
the life of any man, especially the life of one who 
has accomplished either very great good or very 
great evil, from the history of his times. To pre- 
sent the lives of such men as Alexander the Great, 
Mohammed, Philip the Second of Spain, or Vol- 
taire, on the one hand ; or on the other the lives of 
Luther, William of Orange, Cromwell, or Wash- 
ington, is to compose the history of their respective 
ages ; and we are obliged to weigh somewhat their 
influence upon their own and succeeding generations. 
And sometimes it occurs that rival characters in the 
same age must be crowded into the same historic 
records, and placed in contrast with each other ; the 
one a worker for evil, and the other, withstanding 
him, a worker for good. He who would give a 
just account of the Reformation in the sixteenth 
century might write a life of Luther. For he was 
a chief providential instrument in awakening the 
public mind of Europe, and of forwarding that 
beneficent revolution ; he had much to do with all 
the great men who were his contemporaries ; and his 
life involves the history of his times. Or such a 
writer might reach substantially the same result — 
as has indeed been done by a standard historian iu 



12 THE TRANSLATED TROPIIET. 

our own language — by composing the history of 
Charles the Fifth, Emperor of Germany, whose 
power and historical wisdom as a monarch, and 
whose fanaticism as a bigot, had great influence on 
those times ; and whose history, therefore, as truly 
as that of Luther, is interwoven w^itli the Reforma- 
tion annals. The history may be written in con- 
nection with either life ; these important personages 
stand so antagonistic to each other in character, in 
purposes and in success, that a true life of one must 
give just views also of the other. We cannot judge 
of such a man's character or success unless we esti- 
mate the difficulties he overcomes; and to tell his 
life is to tell who his foes were. 

So it is with Elijah, as a Reformer, in Israel's 
degenerate days. With his life and history we must 
necessarily connect the life and character of his 
sternest foe. Bring before your mind a personage 
of royal blood ; of a proud, stern and decided 
bearing ; impatient of contradiction ; bold, cruel 
and unprincipled; liberal-handed toward every 
friend ; vigorous and relentless in pursuing every 
foe ; seated upon the throne of Israel in direct 
transgression of Israel's ancient law^s; opposing 
those laws and trampling upon them, by injustice 
toward man and by leading the nation to wider 
apostasy from God ; filling the kingdom w^ith out- 
rage and desolation, yet never once flinching before 
the stern words of the prophet of the Lord, nor 
standing in awe of the sterner judgments of God's 



ELIJAH'S MISSION IN THE APOSTASY OF ISRAEL. 13 

own hand ; living an unmitigated curse to that gene- 
ration ; dying for those long-continued crimes by 
ungrateful violence; and then, without even the 
humblest burial, eaten by the dogs of Jezreel ; it 
only adds to our horror and disgust at such a his- 
tory to say that this is the character of a woman. 
Thus Elijah and Jezebel stand face to face in 
these historic scenes ; to write the life and history of 
one makes us necessarily acquainted with the other ; 
their common age owed its wickedness and its deso- 
lations largely to the influence of Jezebel ; and the 
dawn of better days for Israel and the Church of 
God among the ten tribes is as largely owing to the 
reforming efforts of Elijah. A life-like history and 
biography miust seem to stand before us, as some 
well-pictured scene from the hand of a great artist. 
But as the art of the skilful painter consists, not so 
much in the correct outlines of his figures and their 
due proportion in the picture as in the proper 
mingling of light and shade, which gives a just con- 
ception of the perspective, makes the dark equally 
necessary with the light, and causes each figure to 
stand forth in its due relief; so must a wise histo- 
rian — who is the noblest style of an artist — exhibit 
the dark and the light. Every beholder may learn 
as much from the one as from the other ; and the 
light itself appears brighter when put in contrast 
with the darkness from which it emerges. 

It has been well said of the abrupt appearance 
of Elijah's name upon the sacred pages, that this 



14 THE TRANSLATED PKOPIIET. 

propliet seems like one dropped from heaven in the 
midst of an awful night-piece.* It was his lot to 
live in the calamitous days of Ahab, king of Israel. 
Yet, indeed, in human experience great wickedness 
is not usually of rapid growth. Individuals depart 
gradually from the paths of rectitude, and nations 
seldom reach the summit of iniquity within the life- 
time of a single generation. Yet the progress of 
corruption had been rapid in the kingdom of the 
ten tribes, though we must not charge all the evils 
of his times upon Ahab and his queen. At the 
time when Ahab began to reign, the separate king- 
dom of the ten tribes — ever spoken of as the king- 
dom of Israel, as the house of David reigned over 
Judali — had been in existence for about sixty years. 
A slio;ht review of the annals of this kino;dom 
may better prepare us for the intelligent under- 
standing of Elijah^s history. We may here see 
the danger involved in any people's departing from 
the service of God, and the truth of the prophet's 
declaration : " The nation and kingdom that will 
not serve thee shall perish." Isa. Ix. 12. 

For some three centuries or more after the chil- 
dren of Abraham possessed the land of Canaan, they 
were under the authority of no one civil ruler, but 
judges held authority, usually over limited districts ; 
and the union of the people w^as chiefly in these 

*So Matthew Henry: "He drops, so to ppeak, out of the 
clouds ;" Krummacher and Bishop Hall : " He comes in with 
a tempest who went out with a whirlwind." 



Elijah's mission in the apostasy of Israel. 15 

things : that they were of the same race, language 
and history ; that one statute-book was recognized 
by all the tribes as the law of their God ; that they 
were one people in reliance upon the same covenants ; 
and, that they were united in the avowed worship 
of the same Jehovah. But when, at their request, 
God gave them a king, the entire twelve tribes were 
united in one sentiment of loyalty toward this anoint- 
ed sovereign. At the death of Saul an unhappy 
division took place, which lasted seven years and 
perhaps laid the foundation for the permanent and 
disastrous division which occurred in less than a 
century afterward. Ten tribes adhered to the house 
of Saul, refusing even the divine sanction of 
David^s claims, though their leaders well understood 
that these were justly founded, 2 Sam. iii. 9. But 
the death of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, gave the 
entire authority into the hands of David ; and so 
all the tribes were one till after the death of Solo- 
mon. Yet the seventy-five years had not so united 
them but that discontent and ambition could make 
their former division the pretext and the basis of 
their later separation. The rule of Solomon was 
magnificent, but the heavy expenses of so splendid 
a reign laid a weight of taxation upon the people 
which they were not ready to endure ; and in their 
madness they hurried to results which made all 
matters, and this among the rest, incomparably 
worse. The ill-advised course of Rehoboam drove 
off those whom he should have conciliated ; the 



16 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

murdor of an enrolling officer declared the stern 
determination of the malcontents ; yet an express 
command from God forbade liehoboam to make 
Avar upon the separating tribes. From that time 
forward, for a century and a half, there were two 
separate and often warring kingdoms among the 
sons of Jacob. 

Unhappily a famous but a very bad man was 
called by Israel to the throne of the new kingdom. 
Some years before this, a widow's son had at- 
tracted the attention of King Solomon for his 
valor in Avar and his energy and industry in peace. 
Yet he proved to be as unprincipled as he Avas en- 
ero-etic. AVe know too little of his dealino;s Avith 
Solomon to decide whether he gaA^e the aged mon- 
arch any just cause for jealousy ; but because of the 
prediction of a prophet, that Jeroboam the son of 
Nebat should reign o\^er ten tribes, or because the 
young man attempted dangerous things through 
this encouragement, Solomon compelled him to flee 
for his life. Upon learning of the death of Solomon, 
Jeroboam returned from Egypt in time to take part in 
the popular discontents toAvard Eehoboam ; and when 
the final breach occurred, became king of the new 
empire. Thus far no ca^I record is made of him. 
He was a man of energy and ability, and he held 
the reins of power firmly for OA^er twenty years, 
until the time of his death. But the grand Avick- 
edness of his life, which made the name of Jeroboam 
the son of Nebat infamous as the man who made 



ELIJAH'S MISSION IN THE APOSTASY OF ISRAEL. 17 

Israel to sin, was to repeat in the new kingdom the 
very crimes for which God had rent the dominions 
of Solomon ; and the prophet in the original call of 
Jeroboam, had forewarned him of this, 1 Kings xi. 
31-33. He took a most important step, influenced 
by shortsighted reasons of state policy. His rea- 
sons may have seemed plausible to a mind not con- 
trolled by true religious principles, yet the results 
of this policy were exceedingly disastrous — indeed 
were fatal to the permanence of his own family and 
to the prosperity of the kingdom through all subse- 
quent times. Political cunning and a certain un- 
changing consistency Jeroboam had ; but it tells 
badly for his true wisdom that neither forewarnings, 
1 Kings xi : 38 ; nor reproofs, ch. xiii ; nor judg- 
ments affecting directly his own person, ch» xiii : 4, 
and in the most painful manner reaching his own 
hearthstone, xiv. 17, could avail to change his 
chosen course of wickedness. 

It was Jeroboam^s evil pre-eminence to begin 
among the sons of Abraham the legal establishment 
of an idolatrous worship.* From the days of the 

■^ It is with great surprise that I find Dr. Stanley, from whom 
a wide diversity of views and sympathies separates me, mak- 
ing the affirmation tliat " the kingdom of Israel was the Na- 
tional Kingdom, and the Church of Israel was the National 
Church" after the division. A larger and more populous ter- 
ritory belonged to the ten tribes. But the temple at Jerusalem 
was the lawful place of Jehovah's worship ; the priests of 
Judah were in a lawful descent, as those set up by Jeroboam 
were not ; above all, the promise of the Messiah belonged to 
2 



18 THE TRANSLATED PPvOPHET. 

Exodus, the covenant people liad been prone to the 
worship of images, of which the golden calf at Sinai 
was the first example. During the period of the 
Judges we find traces of the same bad tendency. 
But during the reigns of Saul and David and Solo- 
mon there had been a better regard to the funda- 
mental law of the Hebrew commonwealth, which 
made their God their King. Especially after Jeru- 
salem became the capital of the kingdom, and Solo- 
mon had built there his magnificent temple, there 
was a union of the people around that sacred spot 
for these sacred services. There were placed all the 
cherished memorials of their past national history; 
there the God of Jacob gave special tokens of his 
presence between the cherubim ; there three times 
a year the tribes went up, ^^ the tribes of the Lord, 
unto the testimony of Israel,^^ Ps. cxxii : 4 ; and 
God's covenant people found holy communion with 
each other as they bowed before his altars, and longed 
for the forgiveness of iniquity through the symbols 
of atonement. Evidently the building of that tern- 
David's house, and the Kingdom of Judah survived to witness 
its fulfilment, after the other kingdom was utterly destroyed. 
All these are proof that the National Church had its central 
place of worship in Solomon's temple. Israel had prophets 
and prophetical books, because God did not give them up ; yet 
many prophets and many reproofs show rather Israel's greater 
guiltiness than that Judah had lost the National Church. Was 
restoration made when the ten tribes were carried away ? Or 
was the " National Church" then for ever dissolved. — Stanley's 
Jevsish Church, sect. xxix. 



I 



Elijah's mission in the apostasy of israel. 19 

pie, the regular, solemn assemblies of the whole peo- 
ple there, and their union in religious duties under 
the same priesthood and before the same God, would 
have a strong tendency to hold together the twelve 
tribes of Jacob as one people. There is no stronger 
bond of union than the union of religious senti- 
ments and feelings. A union of piety must ever 
have great influence to prevent — perhaps also to 
heal— the separations caused by blinded passions 
and prejudices. 

Jeroboam, in the ambitious prospects that filled 
his mind, wished for no such healing influence over 
IsraeFs divisions. He looked at the whole matter 
as one to be governed by state policy, and the fear 
w^as exceedingly natural, that if the kingdom of 
the ten tribes remained still united to Judah by 
such strong religious associations and affections, 
there would be the gradual allaying of political as- 
perities^ and perhaps, at some future time, the re- 
uniting of the people in political relations. But 
the merging of the kingdom of Israel in the do- 
minion of the house of David was of course as con- 
trary as possible to the mind of the new sovereign. 
If he had been a godly man, and worthy to rule 
over God^s covenant people, he might have escaped 
this snare. Reasoning justly from God^s usual 
dealings with his faithful servants ; remembering 
that for idolatry had Solomon been rejected ; re- 
calling the special assurance given to himself by the 
prophet Ahijah, 1 Kings, xi. 38, Jeroboam should 



20 THE TRANSLATED PIIOPIIET. 

have sought in tlie path of duty to God, his own 
well-behig, the prosperity of his kingdom, and the 
permanence of his family upon the throne. But 
wickedness is never wise, and apostasy from God 
can never bring true prosperity. King Jeroboam 
adopted means that were indeed calculated to sep- 
arate his people as widely as possible from Judah, 
and to prevent all likelihood of a future reunion ; 
but, like many schemes of wickedness, he secured 
the minor end with the defeat of the main purpose. 
He did effectually separate his kingdom from that 
of Judah, so that they were never again united. 
But his success was the ruin of his own family, and 
the introduction of a long train of evils that brought 
desolation and destruction upon the kingdom ; if 
indeed we may not lay largely at his door, the 
evils that resulted in the decay and dissolution of 
both the kingdoms. 

To secure the loyalty of his subjects toward him- 
self and his house, Jeroboam sapped the very foun- 
dations of religion. He overlooked or despised 
the important truth that tlie fundamental law of 
man's allegiance to his God underlies and supports 
all meaner laws, and that we cannot depend upon 
the influence of sterling principle in any man as a 
citizen who consents to be an apostate from 
his God. Jeroboam should have known that by 
destroying the loyalty of his people toward Jeho- 
vah he made it impossible that they should show 
much attachment to a miserable race of profane 



ELIJAH'S MISSION IN THE APOSTASY OF ISRAEL. 21 

kings. Yet this was his policy. Israel had been 
idolatrous before. We shall take further occasion 
to notice that even Jeroboam did not attempt to 
annul the existing laws^ that were derived from 
Moses, but rather superimposed others. But, for 
the first time now, idol-worship and priests for 
these services were established by law, and drew 
their support from the public treasury. Borrowing, 
as did the fathers at Sinai, the services and gods of 
Egypt, he set up two golden calves one at Dan, 
and the other at Bethel ; made these the objects of 
national worship, and experiencing some faithful op- 
position from the priests and Levites, whose place it 
was to keep the people obedient to the laws of the 
Lord, he banished them from office — perhaps also 
from the kingdom, 2 Chron. xiii. 9. In their stead 
he elevated the basest men to the priesthood, the tools 
of his own despotism, thus subverting the laws of 
Moses, though perhaps not without the pretence of 
keeping these ordinances and of serving Jehovah, 
even through these images. 

Thus his reign was in reality the apostasy of the 
ten tribes. Faithful men remained among them, 
but the kingdom declined ; and this the more be- 
cause through these very evils it was wretchedly 
governed. From the death of Jeroboam to the ac- 
cession of Ahab was a period of but forty years. 
During this entire forty years one quiet and pious 
king of the house of David reigned over the sister 
kingdom of Judah ; but, reckoning both Jeroboam 



22 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

and Aliab, that one king of Judali lived to see 
eiorht kinoes of Israel. That miserable kinordom, 
established by disunion and rebellion, and nour- 
ished in apostasy from God, was torn to pieees by 
internal troubles ; massc^ores and conspiracies suc- 
ceeded each other ; the only virtuous son of Jero- 
boam died beneath his father's roof during his 
father's lifetime ; another son succeeded his father, 
but in two years was killed in a rebellion. Thus 
the succession which Jeroboam paid so dearly to se- 
cure departed for ever from his family. But the 
troubles of the kingdom went on. Two years later 
the drunken murderer was himself killed ; one 
usurper strove with another; and when, thirty years 
after the death of Israel's first king, the crown 
was settled upon Omri, the father of Ahab, it was 
by a military despotism — the power that usually 
settles the disorders of a weak and wicked govern- 
ment. 

"We shall further see that the iniquities of Israel 
grew still more flagrant before the coming of the 
stern Reformer whose character and history we 
desire to study. Ahab, we are told, "sold him- 
self to work evil.^' He did not begin these mis- 
erable scenes. But he was wicked enough to carry 
them on with a high hand ; to refuse the warnings 
by which he, at least, was sometimes appalled ; and 
to maintain his rebellious and impenitent mind 
till his dying day. 

It is lamentable to recognize that all times and 



Elijah's mission in the apostasy of Israel. 23 

ages testify to the wickedness of man. Sometimes 
we are startled as we open the pages of history upon 
some period of abounding iniquity ; deeds are re- 
corded that seem beyond a parallel, and scenes 
pass before us that are too shocking for apology. 
Let us judge righteous judgment. By such men 
as ourselves were these things done; and if we 
differ from them, it is for no reasons that give us 
occasion for self-gratulation. And let us not 
suppose that only national evils grow strong with 
years and indulgence. In every individual there 
is the same vitality, the same deceitfulness, the 
same gathering strength in evil. Every germ of 
indulged sin makes the salutary changes of life 
more unlikely; we live in defiance or neglect of 
God to our own increasing peril ; and many who 
go not far enough in evil to incur the reproval 
of men for notorious infamy, may yet go far enough 
to lose their own souls. 



CHAPTER II. 

TUB rBHSJECUTIOXS OF JEZEBEJJS DAYS. 

AHAB came to the throne of an unhappy king- 
dom in declining times. But it ^vas the great 
misfortune of his people that, bad as they were, 
tlieir ruling prince was in advance of them. It 
should give us an impressive lesson of the superior 
responsibility of official authority to notice that 
far more censure is cast upon the kings of Israel 
because they led their people to evil than for all 
the depravity of their personal characters. We 
cannot entirely se23arate between a man^s charac- 
ter and his influence, since influence flows from 
character and accords with it. And because of 
the influence belonging especially to official station 
should rulers be held responsible for their leading 
of the people. The expression used respecting the 
iniquity of Ahab is very strong : '' There was 
none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to 
work wickedness in the sight of the Lord.^^ — 
1 Kings xxi, 25. A voluntary slave, sold to 
evil, thouo;h the kins^ of Israel! Yet this man 
ruled the land for nearly a quarter of a century, 
and filled it w^ith wretchedness and desolation. 

24 



THE PERSECUTIONS OF JEZEBEL'S DAYS. 25 

The unhappiness of his reign and the increasing 
disorders of the kingdom were greatly increased 
by the king^s marriage. Marriage in Eastern 
lands has not the influence to mould the hus- 
band's character that more frequently attaches to 
it among us. There^ marriages are less the re- 
sult of affection, but are arranged without con- 
sulting the parties, especially the woman; polygamy 
is allowed, and divorces are easily secured; all 
which things tend to give the wife far less influ- 
ence than in our society. Here the entire character 
and life of an individual are sometimes changed 
through the influence exerted, favourably or unfa- 
vourably, by the person chosen to be a life-long 
companion. 

Sometimes such influence is seen in Oriental life, 
and especially where the wife is the stronger cha- 
racter. Two things may have given especial influ- 
ence to Jezebel. First, state policy may have 
brought this marriage about, and have given influ- 
ence in Israel to Zidonian counsels ; and, second, 
Jezebel gives proof of a mind superior in its natural 
endowments to that of her husband. The city of 
Zidon, or Sidon, was a powerful commercial city on 
the Mediterranean coast ; and doubtless it was partly 
with the hope of strengthening his kingdom by the 
alliance that Ahab sought a Zidonian princess in 
marriage. We read enough afterward of Jezebel 
to estimate her character. We may say of her, in 
the language of a Jewish king (1 Kings xii. 10), 



26 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

that her little finger was thicker than her husband's 
loins : a proud, imperious, implacable woman, and 
the record is that she stirred up Ahab to work in- 
iquity. From the day of their marriage it soon ap- 
peared that notlsraelitish, but Zidonian principles — 
not Ahab, but Jezebel ruled the kingdom of Israel. 
There is a consistency about Jezebel's character 
that should not escape our notice. She was a Zido- 
nian princess, and she acts the thorough Phoenician 
in all her life. She was willing to go to any length 
and to incur any expense to establish and maintain 
the forms of Phoenician idolatry. She came to the 
throne of Israel a thorough heathen, and persistently 
remained so : she was ever unsubdued by the fierce 
judgments of the God of Israel ; and when Ahab 
submitted to the stern Reformer, and a change 
seemed about to occur to overthrow her schemes, 
she hurled back upon the prophet a defiance so keen, 
and fierce, and immediate, that Elijah himself 
quailed and fled before a woman's angry menace. 
Up to the time of Ahab's accession, there was, per- 
haps, no attempt to introduce a pure idolatry into 
the kingdom. The golden calves of Jeroboam 
were doubtless transgressions of the second com- 
mandment of the Decalogue rather than of the 
first ; that is to say, they professed to represent, not 
fiilse gods, but the God of Israel himself. So Jero- 
boam told the people, " Behold thy gods, O Israel, 
which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." 1 
Kings xii. 28. But this is just the language used 



THE PERSECUTIONS OF JEZEBEX'S DAYS. 27 

by Aaron when he made the calf at Sinai. That 
worship was deceitful. It was professedly the wor- 
ship of Jehovah ; and Aaron said, ^' To-morrow is a 
feast to the Lord.^^ Ex. xxxii. 5. So these images 
of Jeroboam were professedly symbols of Jehovah's 
worship. This was as truly opposed to the law 
of the ten commandments; yet it was rather the 
corruption of religion than apostasy from it. This 
explains the singular mingling of the true and false 
Avhich we see in so many prophets of this age. 
The lying prophet of Bethel (1 Kings xiii.) speaks 
a direct falsehood, which proved fatal to a brother 
prophet, yet he receives a true word from God after 
this. A corrupted religion may justly be distin- 
guished from a false religion ; and while special 
dangers belong to corrupted forms of true religion, 
because the truth we should hold often gives cur- 
rency to the errors we should reject, we may judge 
charitably of those who are entangled in errors 
where yet substantial truth exists. Israel in the 
days of Jeroboam w^as in serious error ; yet the 
laws of God were perverted rather than subverted. 
Still, the tendency of such errors is to advance. To 
worship God by images leads rapidly on to tlie 
worship of the images themselves ; and after religion 
had been corrupted for half a century, and the bet- 
ter teachings of the purer faith were unknown to the 
mass of the people, the way was prepared for intro- 
ducing a pure idolatry. 

Jezebel made it the object of her ambition to in- 



28 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

trodiice the worship of Baal in Israel, and to cause 
his polluting and infamous rites to fill the land. 
But she was not content that her forms of worship 
should be tolerated. They must be established; 
the wealth and authority of the kingdom must be 
enlisted to sustain them ; every opposing lip must 
be silenced, even though it might imply the hush of 
death upon every prophet ; and the servants of the 
living God must be compelled to render their wor- 
ship henceforth to the Zidonian god. It is much 
to the credit of the nation, degenerate as it had 
already become, that a vigorous opposition withstood 
these endeavours to subvert the fundamental princi- 
ples of Israelitish law. We think it likely that 
Jeroboam could not have done what Jezebel now 
effected. Fifty years earlier it required a cautious 
and seductive policy, the end of which, it may be, 
Jeroboam himself did not see, to lead the people from 
their allegiance to their God ; and either the better 
part of the people were blind to the dangers thus 
introduced, or they did not give them a firm and 
persevering resistance, certainly not a successful 
one. Thus, usually, error begins with slow and 
persuasive steps: it is justified, not by its inherent 
excellency, but for reasons of apparent policy, and 
enough at least are deceived to prevent a bold and 
successful opposition. 

Let us not suppose, however, that the policy of 
the kingdom, even in the early days of Jeroboam, 
met w^itli none to oppose it or to show its wicked- 



THE PERSECUTIONS OF JEZEBEL'S DAYS. 29 

ness toward God, and its dangers toward the Israel- 
itish people : the truth rather seems to be that the true 
priests and Levites of the days of Jeroboam set the 
first example of a voluntary sacrifice for principle^s 
sake^ such as God^s true ministers in later times 
have, upon several occasions, been compelled to 
imitate. We all know what a profound impression 
of the excellency of religion and of the power of 
Christian principle was made upon the world by 
the exodus of the Free Church of Scotland. After 
long and earnest efforts to prevent the encroachments 
of the civil authorities upon the spiritual duties of 
the Church, nearly five hundred ministers volunta- 
rily gave up their congregations, church buildings, 
salaries and comfortable homes, and threw them- 
selves upon the sympathies of the people. They 
went forth to begin the world anew in the ser- 
vice of Christ. They had congregations to form, 
churches to build ; their incomes to secure by means 
heretofore untried by them; and foreign mission- 
aries to support in addition to their home burdens ; 
and all these things were to be done at once. And 
they were nobly done, with many instances of self- 
denial, but also with large advantages to ministers 
and people. The results of over twenty years^ expe- 
rience have indicated the propriety and wisdom of 
that noble stand. 

Yet it is due to the truth to say that as an in- 
stance of heroic self-devotion to the principles of 
the gospel, it was far less illustrious than may bo 



30 THE TRANSLATED rROPTIET. 

found in tlic conchict of the English Non-con- 
formist divines two centuries before. When the 
Scottish ministers left the Established Churchy they 
threw themselves upon the sympathies of a people 
ready to receive them; their persecutions were 
scarcely anything else than petty annoyances^ that 
served to help their cause rather than to hinder 
it, and they were soon as prosperous as before. 
But on Black Bartholomew's Day, 1660, two 
thousand godly ministers in England, rather than 
conform to the tyrannical orders of Parliament, 
were cast forth from their charges without the 
privilege of helping themselves by the free exercise 
of their ministry. Many hundreds of them had 
neither house nor bread : if they dared to preach, 
they were imprisoned for their crime, and the peo- 
ple dare not aid them, even privately, lest they 
should be suspected of disloyal conduct. By the 
law of Protestant England no Puritan preacher 
was allowed to come within five miles of his former 
congregation; spies and informers w^ere constantly 
upon his track, and any attempt to exercise his 
ministry w^as the signal for his arrest and imprison- 
ment. The annals of England must ever be 
stained with that instance of most refined cruelty 
which English law inflicted but two hundred years 
ago upon men like Bates, Owen, Baxter, Howe, 
Calamy, Flavel and Philip Henry, whose names 
are now the ornaments of English literature, whose 
superiors cannot be named, as eminent in advanc- 



THE PERSECUTIONS OF JEZEBEL'S BAYS. 81 

ing the cause of civil liberty^ and^ better still, of 
promoting the piety of the Church of God. 

We have not a full record of the sufferings which 
were cheerfully borne for principle's sake by the 
priests of the Jewish Church in the days of Jero- 
boam. When the kingdom of Israel was set up in 
rebellion from the house of David, a strong tide of 
partisan feeling sustained the new king, Jeroboam. 
But when he attempted to interfere in matters of 
religion, when he required the people to serve the 
golden calves at Dan and at Bethel, his people re- 
sisted his efforts. This resistance, perhaps, was not 
formidable; it may have been far less than it should 
have been. Doubtless many were ready to go 
wherever the influence of the king would lead them ; 
others were seduced by the plausible pretences of 
Jeroboam, and did not believe that this was the 
beginning of national apostasy. Yet many under- 
stood the guilt and danger, and nobly took ground 
against the king's proposals. The priests and Levites 
would not serve these gods, .even though called by 
the name of the Lord. So they were cast out of their 
offices; the support allowed them under the Mosaic 
- 7 laws was withdrawn, and given to priests who 
would be more subservient to Jeroboam ; and these 
faithful men were compelled to find refuge in the 
neighbouring kingdom. And of the best people of 
the land, so many fell away and passed over to 
Judah as greatly to strengthen the power of Relio- 
boam. 2 Chron. xi. 13-17; xiii. 9. 

I 



32 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

It is difficult for lis to describe^ from the brief 
account we have of the matter^ whether the pious 
priests and people of that age acted wisely or fool- 
ishly in leaving their own land. If they could have 
remained and resisted the encroachments of idolatry, 
perhaps they might have saved the kingdom from 
coming disasters; the persecutions of the days of 
Jezebel might have been prevented, and the later 
effi^rts of Elijah might have been sustained. It is 
not right for God^s people easily to desert the post 
which Providence has assigned them. If they 
can stand in their lot, let them there abide; es- 
pecially if freedom of speech and action is allowed 
to them, and if they can hope, even through self- 
denial and much endurance, to maintain the cause 
of God and truth. But we may have here an 
example of the folly of princes, so often exempli- 
fied in the later ages of European history. When 
we know that Spain banished thousands of an in- 
dustrious and thriving population simply because 
they were Jews; that France sent into exile half a 
million of the Huguenots, almost completely des- 
troying the manufacturing interests of the king- 
dom, and, through her bigotry, giving her great 
rival, England, an advantage whose importance has 
constantly increased for over two centuries; that 
Ferdinand II. of Austria conducted an extermi- 
nating war against the Protestants of Bohemia 
and Moravia, devastated the land, expelled the in- 
habitants by thousands and reduced the population 



THE PERSECUTIONS OF JEZEBEL'S DAYS. 33 

from three millions to less than (me, inflicting in- 
juries from which Bohemia has never since recov- 
ered; and that from several countries of Europe, 
even from Protestant England, men of the highest 
moral worth were compelled to emigrate — exiles 
for conscience^ sake — to the wilds of the Western 
Continent, we may esteem bigotry in any age as 
one of the worst passions of the human mind, the 
most blind to every wise interest, the most reckless 
of consequence, the fiercest in its cruel sway. The 
first monarch of the new kingdom, though actuated 
less by genuine bigotry than by his own stern 
resolve to separate the ten tribes from Judah, 
would put down all opposition to his will at all 
hazards. So the pious Israelites of Jeroboam's 
day were compelled to leave the kingdom or con- 
form to the established worship of- the golden 
calves. The example of their piety is valuable to 
us, though indeed the new kingdom could poorly af- 
ford to lose her best population, and soon sadly 
missed the presence of such subjects. 

But now, in the days of Ahab, we see the im- 
portance of the previous changes. Whether we 
judge that the pious portion of the people of Israel 
did not make sufficient resistance to the schemes of 
the idolatrous king, or whether all their resistance 
was in vain, and they were forced to leave the 
kingdom, we see the lamentable result when Jezebel 
attempted still more important innovations. Worse 
than all that Jeroboam had done, her effort was to 

3 



84 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

introduce the worship of Baal. This heathen 
divinity was extensively worshipped by the Eastern 
nations. He is supposed to be the sun, as Astarte, 
called also in the Scriptures, Ashtoreth and the 
Groves, is the moon. We can scarcely wonder, if 
men are idolaters at all, that they should pay their 
honors to creatures so magnificent as these heavenly 
bodies. The name of Baal signifies Lord, and is 
often used in compound names of inferior gods, as 
Baalpeor, Baalzebub, etc. His worship was often 
of a most cruel character, consisting in human 
sacrifices and with degrading and polluting rites. 
We cannot be surprised that JezebePs efforts to 
establish the worship of such a god in Israel gave 
great alarm to the better part of the people. Here 
was a bold and open attempt to subvert the religion 
of the nation and to overthrow the authority of 
their ancient law^s. Men that might be kept quiet 
by the plausible pretences of Jeroboam had no 
difficulty in comprehending the evident designs of 
this Zidonian queen. 

But that portion of the people of Israel who 
were disposed to resist the wickedness of Jezebel 
had now grown too weak to make successful or 
even formidable opposition. Half a century of 
prevailing corruption had depraved the public con- 
science, and the previous exile of so large a num- 
ber of the leaders and of the most pious part of 
the people had given a decided preponderance to 
the idolatrous party. So an open resistance at suet 



THE PERSECUTIONS OF JEZEBEL'S DAYS. 35 

a time could have only the result of securing the 
more complete destruction of all who withstood the 
decrees of the cruel and imperious queen. We do 
not know what form the resistance took. But one 
important sentence incidentally occurs at a later time 
to reveal things, which, alas! have been too com- 
monly known in the history of God's believing 
people. We are informed that Jezebel slew the 
prophets of the Lord, and that only those escaped 
whom faithful friends secreted from her fury. 1 
Kings xviii. 4, 13. This record opens to us a 
fruitful source of thought. The prophets of God 
in a time of advancing errors stood faithfully up to 
resist the encroachments of evil. It made no dif- 
ference to them that monarchs were the aggressors, 
nor did they shrink from the post of duty, though 
their blood must put the seal upon their faithful- 
ness. Doubtless oftentimes an unfaithful ministry 
has brought error and mischief in upon a land ; 
yet in all ages the faithful ministers of God have 
been the sternest foes of tyrants, and have sealed 
with their lives the precious doctrines of his truth. 
Yet it is lamentable to think that in the land 
promised to the patriarchs these scenes of perse- 
cution and massacre occur. Not beneath the task- 
masters of Egypt, nor by the distant rivers of a sad 
captivity, but upon the very plains of Canaan, by 
the well of Jacob and in the pasture-grounds of 
Abraham, the covenant pco])le were trodden down 
by a domestic tyranny and forbidden by their own 



36 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

king to worship their own God. Yet is this a 
chapter of grief not unusual in the pages of the 
Churches history ; but we often read of those that 
were " destitute, afflicted, tormented ; of whom the 
world was not worthy ; they wandered in deserts 
and in mountains and in dens and caves of the 
earth. '^ Heb. xi. 37, 38. Nor need we wonder 
that Canaan was a land of persecution, and that 
the sacred soil was dyed with martyr blood. 
Human nature, in its deep depravity, is ever 
prone to decline from the purity of divine teach- 
ings. There is a constant tendency to apostatize 
from the true faith, against which every age of 
believers must be upon its guard. The bitterest 
and most cruel enemies against whom the Church 
of God has ever contended have spring up within 
her own bosom ; the blood of true martyrs has 
been sprinkled upon God's own altars; and the 
great Martyr of the world's history, and for the 
world's salvation, declared solemnly that a prophet 
— especially the greatest Prophet — could scarcely 
perish save in the holy city, Luke xiii. 33 ; and 
his death upon the cross was procured by men who 
were the anointed priests in God's own house. 
And the persecutions of later times, the most cruel 
the world has ever known, have shown chiefly the 
enormous cruelties of an apostate Church. 

When a pagan queen is partner of the throne 
of Israel we have just the elements of a persecutor. 
Let the spirit of paganism dwell in Israel, and we 



THE PERSECUTIONS OF JEZEBBL'S DAYS. 37 

have an age of prophet-martyrs, even upon sacred 
soil. The detailed history of those sad years is 
not given to us. We are told that one single 
man, whose office in the court of Ahab made him 
acquainted with the schemes of Jezebel, hid one 
hundred of the Lord^s prophets, at least for a 
season, from her rage. But these may have formed 
but a small proportion of the numbers of those 
slain by the queen^s orders or compelled to leave 
the kingdom to save their lives. The Church of 
God has her martyrs unknown, as well as her 
martyrs known and honored. The Christian poet 
very beautifully as well as truly speaks the praises 
of those that 

" lived unknown, 

Till persecution dragged them into fame, 

And chased them up to heaven." 

But of these noblest patriots and noblest freemen 
how many have never been '' dragged into fame ! '^ 
Many perished in Israel by the hands of Ahab^s 
queen, whose names we can never know, and of 
whom this record remains alone for earth: "Jezebel 
slew the prophets of the Lord.^^ Many have died 
in the secret dungeons of the horrible Inquisition, 
or laid down to their unknown graves in the dens 
and caves of the earth, or dragged out their soli- 
tary exile in distant lands, of whose names the 
Church knows nothing. Many have nerved their 
brethren, and even converted their persecutors, by 
the spectacle of their heroic suflferings. Freedom 



38 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

to worship Cod is a blessing that has cost many 
earnest struggles and the large shedding of precious 
blood. And it is worth all it has ever cost — worth 
to us and to our children all it may ever cost them 
and us to maintain and defend this legacy of ages 
past. And indeed this is the excellency of the 
cause of God and truth : that even in this life it 
well repays those who suffer most to promote it. 
The words of our blessed Lord express a principle 
of most precious truth ; and this was of equal 
value long before his lips gave it this delightful 
utterance : " Blessed are they that are persecuted 
for righteousness' sake.'' Happier is the sufferer 
than the injurer ; happier the persecuted than 
the persecutor ; happier the unknown Plebrew 
prophet, even if he was circled by the kindling 
flames, a living sacrifice to Baal, than the queenly 
Jezebel, within whom burned the more enduring 
and more consuming flames of unholy passions. 
The worst of God's service in any age is better 
than the best of Satan's. The day will come, 
after the jewels of every earthly diadem have lost 
their lustre, when every martyr-crown shall shine 
with refulgent splendour; and when, in contrast 
with the dishonoured memory of their persecu- 
tors, the name of every suffering believer shall 
be held in glorious remembrance. 

It is very likely that these persecutions in Israel 
in the days of Ahab were attended with special 
severity. Two reasons may suggest this : 1st, 



THE PERSECUTIONS OF JEZEBEL'S DAYS. 39 

The services paid by the Phoenician tribes to 
Baal were of great cruelty. Indeed it may be 
that the fearful method of destroying human life 
by fire — used chiefly in the martyrdoms of the 
people of God — had its origin in the awful rites 
of those Canaanitish gods. The Scriptures often 
speak of the offering of their children by fire to 
these divinities; and human sacrifices thus made, 
even in the time of Jezebel, may have set the hor- 
rible example, so long afterward copied, of carry- 
ing on these persecutions by flames. What if these 
gods of Canaan and their fearful modes of torture 
were the true source of the terrible scenes which 
the paganized Church of Rome has so often 
repeated in her warfare against the saints of the 
Most High? 

But, 2d, the cruelty of Jezebel was doubtless 
quickened by its contact with the teachings of 
the true religion. She was a pagan, but she be- 
came acquainted with the teachings of the Hebrew 
prophets. It is worthy of notice that the light of 
true piety degrades where it fails to elevate, and 
men are never so bitter as when they know the 
truth and yet fight against the truth. The natural 
fierceness of Jezebel's bigotry may have been in- 
censed by the firmness with which the prophet- 
martyrs withstood her will and the patience with 
which they died. As the light of heaven pains a 
diseased eye, so divine truth provokes the bad 
passions of wicked men. The different false re- 



40 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

ligions of the world are seldom arrayed against 
each other : wicked men in the world are tolerant 
of each other's vices ; but that which is most unlike 
the world incurs most the world's deadly hatred. 
Troublous times, giiilty times, were upon Israel 
when the Lord's prophets were so slaughtered 
that even Elijah did not know of a single prophet 
left except himself. 

These thoughts upon the condition of Israel in 
the days of Jezebel may remind us that both in na- 
tional and in individual experience there may be a 
dangerous growth of evil, for which a deep re- 
sponsibility rests somewhere. We cannot decide 
how faithful were the good people of Israel in those 
trying times; but we should fear, ourselves, that 
guilt which makes us careless of approaching dan- 
gers, or allows us to throw off our responsibility be- 
cause the peril seems small. The insidious begin- 
nings and the insensible advances of sin have proved 
the ruin of many immortal interests. An evil cha- 
racter is insensibly formed, evil associates gradually 
gather around us, our feet imperceptibly wander 
from the paths of rectitude ; ere we are aware we 
have placed ourselves in peril, and every year of 
life increases our liability to go yet further on in ways 
that are disapproved alike by our own consciences 
and by the law of God. Against the deceitfulness 
of sin no people, no person, can too carefully 
guard. One compliance brings others in its train. 
The man who takes one wrong step, or indulges 



THE PERSECUTIONS OF JEZEBEL'S DAYS. 41 

one bosom sin, or lives upon one wrong principle, 
cannot possibly foresee the results. 

We should be the more guarded in these matters, 
because in this fallen world evil is so much more 
easily wrought than good. See the tremendous in- 
fluence of Jezebel. If we say she owed much of 
this to her place as queen, this must be admitted ; 
yet, indeed, the effect is far more apparent where 
the energies are enlisted for evil. The same intel- 
lect, industry and time can do vastly more to de- 
stroy than to build up. It is an easy thing to 
awaken evil and corrupt thoughts in a youthful 
mind, but not easy to reform one already depraved. 
These lessons are taught us all along in human his- 
tory, and impressed by a thousand examples under 
our own notice ; and yet how difficult it is to make 
men afraid of evil principles, or to convince them 
that they stand in danger, when they voluntarily 
expose themselves to the corrupt influences around 
them ! 



CHAPTER 1 I I. 

THE DESOJLATIOX OF ISHJJEZ, 

TT^E have attempted to form some idea of the 
^ * moral state of the kingdom of Israel under 
the rule of Jezebel and Ahab. And now a new 
character suddenly makes his appearance. When 
the prophets had been slaughtered, and the true 
people of God scattered or silenced, and the nation 
was devoted to the false gods of Jerusalem, or the 
more terrible rites of Baal, God raised up this emi- 
nent prophet. His very name, Elijah — my God is 
Jehovah — contains a public protest against the pre- 
vailing idolatry. In the Xew Testament, it takes 
the Greek form, Elias. He is also called the Tish- 
bite. Some suppose this is from the name of the 
town where he may have been born. Yet the town, 
Thisbe, to which his birth is usually referred, was 
in the tribe of Xaphtali and northwest of Lake 
Tiberias ; while Elijah is said to be of the inhabi- 
tants of Gilead. Gilead is on the other side of the 
lake, and to the southeast. Perhaps the name is 
rather descriptive of his office. Translate it, and it 
is the converter or reformer ; and what more appro- 

42 



THE DESOLATION OF ISRAEL. 43 

priate title belongs to this prophet than to call him 
Elijah, the Reformer! 

Whether he had been a silent witness of Israel's 
desolations, up to the moment when his voice breaks 
so abruptly upon the ears of Ahab, we have no 
means of deciding. Perhaps he was an unwilling 
exile from Israel, and returned now at the Lord's 
bidding. But what sad scenes spread before him 
as he looked over the land ! The pure worship 
of Israel's God was interdicted ; profane altars 
smoked on every hill-side, and the shade of every 
green tree was devoted to idolatry. The very spot 
where the patriarch Jacob slept, when he saw the 
angels of God ascending and descending, had now, 
for more than half a century, been defiled with the 
idolatries of Jacob's sons ; and though still called 
Bethel, the house of God, deserved better the name, 
significantly applied to it by one of the later pro- 
phets, Bethaven, the house of vanity. Hosea iv. 15. 
The triumph of Jezebel seemed complete. "What 
had now become of the hundred prophets, sheltered 
by the care of Obadiah, we cannot tell ; now, at least, 
every prophetic voice was so silenced, every service 
paid to the living God was so secret, that Elijah 
thought he was left alone. Then the prophet stood 
forward. His personal appearance is afterward 
described to us, yet rather as to his dress than to 
anything else : a hairy man, girded with a belt of 
leather. The prophets of Israel wore coarse gar- 
ments, cheaply made from the rougher hair of the 



44 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

camel, and any man wearing such a dress laid claim 
to the office of a prophet. Zech. xiii. 4. So, when 
Israel had been long without a prophet, John the 
Baptist — who had many characteristics like Elijah — 
attracted great attention in the wilderness when he 
came preaching, ^^ clothed in a raiment of camel's 
hair and a leathern girdle about his loins.'' Matt, 
iii. 4. Dressed in this prophetic garb, Elijah ap- 
peared at the court of Ahab, and fearfully announced 
a heavy judgment upon the land. Perhaps the very 
terms of the woe were designed to awaken the peni- 
tence of the people ; no limit is fixed for the time of 
the judgment, for they might shorten the days by 
turning to the Lord. And so we may say that the 
prophet secures his own life from the wrath of Ahab 
by the very form of the threatening. The needed 
rain for the land depends upon his word ; and the 
angry king would not dare to slay the prophet, at 
least until he had secured the recall of the fearful 
malediction. 

Elijah stood before xlhab, and in the most sol- 
emn manner, and in the fearful name of the God 
of Israel, declared that there should be no rain or 
dew upon the land but at his word. He gives no 
proof of his commission, except that which is in- 
volved in the fulfilment of his words. This, in 
such a case, is a sufficient proof of the prophet's 
authority. 

Perhaps we should think of this judgment in 
the light of those sins of the people of Israel upon 



THE DESOLATION OF ISRAEL. 45 

which it was called down. In the divine adminis- 
tration of earthly affairs, we often see the punish- 
ments of sin so appropriate to the sins that call 
them forth that men have no diihculty in discern- 
ing why the displeasure of God is upon them. 
The Scriptures often express this rule in explicit 
language : '^ His own iniquities shall take the 
wicked himself." " As she hath done, so shall it 
be done to her." ^' Whatsoever a man soweth that 
shall he also reap." The Egyptians destroyed the 
male children of the Israelites, and in judgment 
lose their own first born. David's sin is followed 
by like sins in his own household. The Jews 
rejected their Messiah, and were rejected by him. 
So in this great calamity of Israel. The people 
reap the fruits of their own devices. 

It is not the unanimous opinion of the learned 
that Baal is the sun. Mr. Mede thinks that the 
Bel of the Babylonians was a deified king of 
Babel, and that the Baal of the Zidonians was a 
deified Phoenician king. Yet Calmet, Bishop 
Patrick and others, think that Baal is the sun. 
Though the plural name of Baalam is applied to 
other gods, or perhaps to multiplied images of the 
same god, yet it explains all the Scriptural refer- 
ences to BaaPs worship to suppose that he is the 
sun. The Jewish people did worship the sun. 
Josiah put down the priests " that burned in- 
cense unto Baal, to the sun and to the moon and 
to the planets and to all the host of heaven." 



46 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

2 Kings xxiii. 5. So also he took away the 
chariots given to the sun, and burned the chariots 
of the sun with fire. 

Thus to understand this Baal worship explains 
the appropriateness of the judgment now pro- 
nounced by Elijah, and of the challenge given 
three years later at Carmel. We may suppose 
him now to say, ^' Since you will worship the 
sun, let the sun be your ruler. Let his bright 
and unclouded rays beam upon you ; let no storm- 
clouds obscure his beauty to your admiring eyes ; 
let no vapours rise to darken his splendour. The 
burning sun is Israel's god ; let him teach Israel 
the folly of exalting the creature into the place 
of that Creator who alone can make all his creatures 
subserve his providential purposes.'^ And thus 
God still deals with the sons of men. Their 
follies and sins become the means of their chastise- 
ment. A stricken people may often see the exact 
offence they have given to the great Euler over 
the nations ; for their troubles arise from their 
sins. Even God's noblest creatures may not be 
put in his place, and he can make our very bless- 
ings the instruments of his chastising righteousness. 

It seems a serious thing to consider that this 
judgment upon Israel was in answer to Elijah's 
prayers. He looked abroad over the land ; he 
saw the covenant people of Jehovah given to the 
debasing worship of the heathen. The orgies of 
Astarte polluted the night, and human sacrifices 



THE DESOLATION OF ISRAEL. 47 

to Baal threw up their lurid smoke to cloud and 
defile the day. We are not told what warnings 
Elijah may have given^ what expostulations he 
may have used, what rejections — possibly perse- 
cutions — he may have met before he reached this 
almost incorrigible point in IsraePs guilt. The 
long forbearance of God usually goes before the 
severity of his judgments ; and we have no reason 
to think that Elijah was wanting in feelings of 
ardent attachment to his people and to his land. 
But at length his holy indignation is roused at 
their wilful and wide departure from their God, 
and he is jealous for the divine name and author- 
ity. "He prayed earnestly that it might not rain.^^ 
Let us not think it strange that a wise and good 
man should call such a calamity upon his people. 
He had doubtless the same end in view that in 
such a case might be placed before the divine 
mind. There is, we must ever remember, an 
infinite difference between the highest servant and 
that Almighty God to whom belongeth vengeance ; 
but if a faithful servant may approve and vindi- 
cate the Lord^s sternest dealings with sinful men, 
-jhe may desire such providential workings as shall 
reprove for sin and teach the people righteousness. 
Of Israel's guilt we have proof enough; and 
herein is evidence that too great severity was not 
exercised toward them: 1st, That God heard 
Elijah's prayer ; and, 2d, That the people re- 
mained still rebellious and impenitent. Indeed, 



48 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

not Elijah, but Elijah's God, sent these judgments 
on the guilty land. The servant in his house 
cannot rise above a servant. God hears not the 
mad cry of revenge, the impatient complaints of 
petulance or the miserable frettings of an unholy 
anger. We may look upon the prophet in this 
remarkable prayer as rising above the low and 
common view of things ; as preferring the vindi- 
cation of the divine honour, and as desiring this 
divine severity as the means of awakening the 
penitence of a sinning people. How fearful was 
the apostasy that demanded such a remedy ! 

This prayer of Elijah was founded upon the 
express teachings of those ancient Scriptures which 
belonged to the people of Israel. As long ago as 
the days of their lawgiver, this judgment had been 
denounced as their punishment for idolatry. After 
promising rain among the blessings flowing from 
their obedience, Moses thus warns his people : 
'' Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be 
not deceived, and ye turn aside and serve other 
gods, and worship them; and then the Lord's 
wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up 
the heaven that there be no rain, and that the 
land yield not her fruit.'' Deut. xi. 16, 17. So 
this judgment was just that before threatened, as 
well as that which was appropriate to Israel's 
worship of the sun. 

But hard indeed were the hearts of that guilty 
people, when these fearful judgments failed to 



THE DESOLATION OF ISRAEL. 49 

awaken penitence. The sentence of Elijah was 
SO pronouncedj in the name of the God of Israel, 
that every month of the drought's increasing 
severity might more and more convince them 
that the hand of Jehovah was upon them ; yet 
the door was left open for their speedy relief, 
when they sought it of the Lord. And we need 
not judge that no good effect was secured among 
any of the people by this terrible drought. Un- 
known indeed to Elijah, but not unknown to the 
prophet's God, there was a faithful band who had 
not bowed their knees to the prevailing worship, 
but had maintained their allegiance to God through 
all this period of national degeneracy. And these, 
we may hope, mourned over the sins of the land, 
humbled themselves under the severity of the 
divine judgments, and were confirmed in their 
ancient faith. But the ruling authorities and 
the greater part of the people continued yet in 
their sins. They may even have attributed the 
evils that happened to the ordinary operation of 
natural laws, according to a sceptical philosophy, 
which, however it may change its phases, is ever 
regarded as new by each succeeding generation ; 
though indeed it is as old as the spirit of infidel- 
ity, or, to give another name to the same thing, 
of depravity in man. So great is the delusion of 
error that, despite the plain words of Elijah, they 
may have attributed these evils to the anger of 
Baal ; they may have been more zealous to extir- 

4 



50 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

pate the worshippers of Jehovah ; they may have 
multiplied their vows and oflferings for BaaFs 
favour. 

The judgments of God often fail to secure the 
risings of salutary contrition. At the end of three 
years and a half the judgment still rested upon the 
land. There may, indeed, have been some prepara- 
tions for Elijah^s reappearance, and many secret 
prayers from seven thousand faithful hearts; yet, 
so far as we can see, the movement of deliverance 
began in the divine mercy — which deals not with 
us according to our sins, nor rewards us according 
to our iniquities — and in the earnest prayer of the 
prophet himself. In every age the law Avorks 
wrath, and though judgments are sent to awaken 
the conscience, divine mercy draws and wins the 
heart. The fable teaches truth. The bleak north 
wind may beat upon the traveller, only to make him 
wrap his cloak more closely around him ; but the 
warm sun makes him throw it off and seek shelter 
in refreshing shades. Divine judgments have their 
important purposes to serve, as God sends them 
upon those who have yet opportunities for repent- 
ance ; but his mercy alone is effectual to soften and 
win and renew and purify the sinful heart. 

The judgment denounced by Elijah upon guilty 
Israel proclaims not simply his personal piety, as 
zealous for the Divine honour, but his official rank as 
a true prophet. Such words would be folly, and 
even wickedness^ uttered by his own authority ; but 



THE DESOLATION OF ISRAEL. 51 

lie speaks them in the name of the Lord. " There 
shall not be dew nor rain these years but according 
to my word.^^ Even if this expresses the truth but 
generally, if occasional showers did come, not 
enough to relieve the drought of the land, the ca- 
lamity is one too great for the widest range of our 
imagination to conceive. So accustomed are we to 
the exuberant bounty of our God that we think 
too little of this ; and too little reflect how much 
our constant comfort depends upon common bless- 
ings. The element of water — how needful to us, 
how adapted to innumerable purposes, how abun- 
dantly supplied, how admirably distributed ! How 
copiously, yet how gently, it descends in genial 
showers, applied without human labour just w^here 
its reviving and sustaining influences are needed ; 
laid lightly at the roots of the thirsty plants, re- 
freshing the trees on the mountain side, the grass in 
the valley, the grain in the cultivated field. How 
it penetrates the veins of the earth, lays up its reser- 
voirs in her secret places, springs up for the neces- 
sities of man and beast, even in the wilderness, and 
gushes forth in unfailing supplies in almost every 
farm-yard. How it flows in the channels of our 
noble rivers, and as a continual source of supply 
for the clouds of heaven, rolls its ocean billows over 
two-thirds of the globe. Especially is ours a land 
blessed by the God of heaven with springs and 
fountains and streams of water. Less subject to 
droughts, we are less capable of comprehending 



62 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

their severity, as sometimes experienced in other 
lands. Perhaps none of us ever saw six months of 
drought without rain. A few weeks of dry wea- 
ther make us long for the showers of heaven. But 
a few months^ drought, in a land of springs, and 
wells, and streams, gives but a feeble idea of the 
distress in Israel in Elijah^s days. There, a spring 
of water is a gem of priceless value ; a well is a 
meagre pool of almost brackish water, poorly com- 
paring with our living fountains; and the Jordan 
w^ould be a mere rivulet beside our grand rivers. 

In such a land the prophet pronounced a calamity 
that extended to years. Every succeeding year, 
even every month and week, would increase the 
desolation. The cities would be the first to feel the 
curse. The hot sun would beat down upon their 
narrow streets, the clouds of scorching dust would 
penetrate their inmost chambers, the wells and 
cisterns would gradually fail, the rivulets would 
dwindle in their needful supplies, extravagant 
prices would bring sufferings upon the poor, and 
the houses of the w^ealthy, and even the palace of 
the king, must suffer in the prevailing, universal 
destitution. Outside of the walled towns, the influ- 
ence could be easily seen. Scarcely any sight is 
more distressing than that of a cultivated country 
suffering under the severity of a drought. The de- 
lightful carpet of green upon the meadows gives 
place to dry and withered and unsightly sods ; the 
dusty fields lie unstirred by the plough of the hus- 



THE DESOLATION OF ISRAEL. 53 

bandman, for it is vain to cast the seed into such a 
soil ; and the forest trees^ perhaps the last to show 
their need of rain, are bare and dry as in the depths 
of winter. The streams and fountains fail^ some 
enduring a longer, others a shorter time ; and all 
nature, animate and inanimate, in all the realm, is 
compelled to feel the power of an avenging God. 

We are not made acquainted with the sad details 
of these years of calamity in Israel. We know not 
the resources of the nation, or the measures adopted 
to meet this severe dispensation. Doubtless many 
of the people became voluntary exiles to lands of 
greater plenty, there to remain till the famine had 
subsided. These famines seem to have been often- 
times over comparatively narrow districts of coun- 
try, and the people often sought refuge in neigh- 
bouring lands. Thus Abraham and Jacob both left 
Canaan for Egypt by reason of famine ; thus Naomi 
and her husband went to Moab because of a famine 
that lasted ten years; thus, perhaps, Israel was 
drained at this time of much of its population. In 
any case, the resources of the kingdom must have 
been exhausted, though if the drought did not ex- 
tend to Hermon and Lebanon, the fountains of the 
Jordan would not be dried up, and the people might 
resort thither for relief.* Yet the narrative implies 
that the Jordan also must finally have been ex- 
hausted. Perhaps, now, Ahab depended much 
upon his father-in-law, for though the drought ex- 
* The Lund uikI tlio Book, ii. 228. 



54 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

tended to Zarephath, yet Zidon, as a famous seaport 
of the Mediterranean, would be able to furnish sup- 
plies from a distance. 

It seems to argue that this drought was confined 
to a narrow district that so little is said of the 
kingdom of Judah at this precise period. The king 
of Judah at this time was Jehoshaphat, a good man 
and a true servant of the Lord^ and we are not told 
of any decline in his kingdom during the period of 
this calamity upon the kingdom of the ten tribes. 
Rather we are told that he did not serve Baalim; 
that the Lord established the kingdom in his hands ; 
that all Judah brought him presents ; that he had 
riches and honours in abundance; that his heart was 
lifted up in the ways of the Lord ; that he took 
great pains to have the true religion taught to the 
people throughout all his dominions ; that he waxed 
exceedingly great, and that there was remarkable 
religious and temporal prosperity in his times. See 
2 Chron. xvii. Sometimes two nations give this 
remarkable contrast as they stand side by side, and 
even the prosperity of one may largely grow out 
of the sins and troubles of the other. A few years 
difference in the chronology may make all these 
statements still consistent with the partial suffering 
of Judah at the same time with Israel ; but we have 
no direct proof that other neighbourhoods suffered in 
the distress of Israel, except the district of Za- 
rephath. 

Yet if Judah suffered with Israel in this judg- 



THE DESOLATION OF ISRAEL. 65 

ment of God^ we have here but one of the myste- 
ries of Providence not seldom seen among men. 
The innocent are closely connected with the guilty, 
so that they often suffer with them, and men feel 
sorrows whose cause and guilt they do not share. 
The innocent often suffer with the guilty; the 
guilty are often spared for the sake of the righteous 
or through their prayers. These are mysteries in 
the government of a righteous God that force upon 
us the conviction that in another life he will vindi- 
cate and rectify the inequalities here so often seen 
in his dealings with man. This is a world where 
God^s people must walk by faith ; many things re- 
main unexplained. By means of these the hearts 
of the wicked are often fully set within them to do 
evil, yet surely may we know that it shall be well 
with the righteous — it shall not be well with the 
wicked. 

If 5 during this time of adversity in Israel, Judah 
was still prosperous, we may wonder Avhy the 
prophet did not seek refuge there, as doubtless 
many others did. It would appear that he never 
fled there to escape the power of Jezebel. This 
may have been to prevent a needless embroiling 
of the two kingdoms in strife; for we read that 
the angry Ahab sought everywhere for him, and 
even sought — perhaps demanded — an oath of the 
neighbouring kings that they had not sheltered 
one who was a proscribed outlaw. But in the 
brevity of the scrij)tural narratives we are oft^ii 



56 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

perplexed at matters which could be easily ex- 
plamed by the mention of one or two simple facts. 
These writers keep m view their own great aim, 
to present to us the religious life of God's ancient 
people, rather than to trace their political history. 
Thus they omit things which we would gladly 
know. They often perplex us with difficulties 
which might possibly be explained if we had but 
the smallest additional fact ; and the history of this 
prophet is more completely given than the life of 
many a warlike king. If we seek here simply 
to gratify our curiosity ; if we demand a full ex- 
planation of every matter of which we have some 
instruction; if we look for teachings of merely natu- 
ral or historical interest, we will often be disap- 
pointed. But if we would learn the higher lessons 
which remind us of the divine rule among the sons 
of men, we need not fail to secure these — les- 
sons of permanent value to every age and to every 
reader of these sacred pages. 

See in these records how easily the divine hand 
can punish the sins of men, since we are so con- 
stantly and so entirely dependent upon the divine 
bounty. So numerous and familiar are the divine 
blessings to us that we are prone to receive them 
unthankfully, and even to forget the hand from 
which they come. Yet should he withdraw one 
of many of our comforts, we perish. He does not 
need to send a flood of water to drown a sinning 
world : it would eftect the same desolation if he 



THE DESOLATION OF ISRAEL, 57 

should simply withhold the ^^ showers that water 
the earth/^ All the skill and resources of man 
would be vainly tasked to supply this single de- 
ficiency if his providence should send no clouds 
to cover the earth. Yet against a God upon whom 
they are so dependent^ from whom they receive so 
constant mercies, and who could so easily lay his 
wrath upon them, men ever rebel. Here are two 
things to attract our vfonder : that men should sin 
so long and so perversely against such a God ; and 
that God should forbear so long and so kindly with 
hardened sinners — should still grant them the 
bounties of his providence, and should even soften 
their hearts by unsearchable grace. We need not 
hesitate indeed to decide which is the greatest mar- 
vel. No greater wonder does God's own universe 
contain than the wonder of his grace to sinning 
man. 

And even these records of judgment may encour- 
age us to draw near to God in humble penitence 
for our sins. God's forbearance betokens his 
willingness to show mercy, and is adapted to 
lead men to repentance. In this case he heark- 
ened to the prophet's prayer for judgment. He 
is not less ready to hear the cry that asks his 
mercy. The very form of the prophetic woe, 
Avhich seemed to leave open the door of approach 
to him, that the days of vengeance might be short- 
ened upon the land, may call us, in the days of 
his forbearance, to seek a sin-forgiving God. 



58 THE TRANSLATED PKOPIIET. 

But these all are earthly judgments. Let them 
teach us how fearful must be their estate upon 
whom shall fall the eternal wrath of the God 
they have despised. '' Our God is a consuming 
fire.^^ There are many things to restrain and 
modify and shorten the earthly judgments of 
God as inflicted upon even hardened sinners. 
Even Ahab and Jezebel, miserable as was their 
own fate at the last, did not meet with the full 
displeasure of Israel's God. They ruled over a 
people whom God would not utterly reject ; they 
had many pious subjects who must suffer in their 
sufferings ; and for the sake of the pious, and by 
reason of the prayers of the pious, God withheld 
many sufferings he might otherwise have sent. 
Many earthly advantages belong to sinful men 
from God^s present methods of dealing with the 
earth and from their connection with the righteous. 
The tares and the wheat are in the same field ; 
their roots are intertwined. If one is plucked up, 
the other suffers; both must grow together until 
the harvest. God's people are in the world ; God's 
prophets pray for the world ; God deals in mingled 
judgment and mercy. But one day the wicked 
will pass the boundary of the divine forbearance. 
The severest earthly judgments give us but a faint 
idea of the day of divine vengeance. No seven 
thousand will mingle with the throng upon the 
left-hand side of that awful judgment-seat. No 
Elijah will pray for mercy then. If Christ wept 



THE DESOLATION OF ISRAEL. 69 

over Jerusalem, well may we weep over dying 
souls; — now, not then. Then it will be too late. 
Unhappy he who finds it too late^ even by one 
single moment! 



CHAPTER IV. 

TJIE JPItOTMlST BY THE BMOOK CHEHITS, 

EVERY judgmeDt from the hand of God upon 
man, in all time past, has doubtless been like 
the judgments of the present, in this: that the 
guilty are too prone to interpret the divine deal- 
ings by their own prejudices. ^Vhile the faithful 
few in Israel stood firm in their love and allegiance, 
many profane mockers set the prophet's threat at 
defiance, and refused to believe that the heavens 
would be shut up at Elijah's word. Yet as time 
wore on, and matters became worse and worse in 
the desolated land, the scoff of profanity must have 
assumed a sickly seriousness on the most ungodly 
lip ; and the words of the prophet and the justice 
of Elijah's God were vindicated in judgments whose 
power even opposers must confess. But the per- 
verseness of iniquity, especially in the reigning 
family, is seen in this — that all the steps taken 
would tend rather to increase than remove the ca- 
lamities of the land. Efforts seem to have been 
zealously made to find Elijah as the kno^vn pro- 
claimer of this curse ; the odium w^as laid upon him 

60 



THE PROPHET BY THE BROOK CHERITH. 61 

which really belonged to the wickedness of the peo- 
ple, and doubtless the consciences of the guilty were 
less disturbed because they aroused a zealous indig- 
nation against him. So hard is it ever to reprove 
iniquity so that favour shall be awakened toward a 
faithful reprover, or repentance toward God when 
he judges for sin ! 

While Ahab sought for Elijah, he was concealed 
by the divine command, and perhaps Avithin a 
day^s journey of the king^s palace. We suppose 
that his stay there was during the entire first year 
of the drought ; and the secret of his hiding-place 
was unknown even to a single pious Israelite. Yet 
at this time the faithful Obadiah dwelt in the very 
palace of Ahab; and there were seven thousand 
persons in the kingdom who steadfastly refused to 
fall in with the prevailing idolatry. Still these all 
made no public profession of their attachment to 
Jehovah, and Elijah knew not whom he might 
trust for secresy and safety. By divine direction, 
therefore, he sought a hiding-place by the brook 
Cherith. It is not easy now to identify the pro- 
phet's place of concealment. Dr. Robinson supposes 
that it was the place now called the Wady Kelt,* a 
ravine entering the west side of the Jordan, not over 
forty miles from Samaria. The valley of the Jor- 
dan has, within our own times, been explored by 
an expedition sent out by the United States Govern- 
ment, and an interesting volume published upon 
^ Bib. Ees. ii. 288, and note. 



62 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

the subject.* Scarcely any river in the world de- 
scends more rapidly, for the same distance of course, 
than the Jordan in its rocky bed. This remarkable 
river " does not depend upon its tributaries for its 
steady supply of water, but is almost wholly formed 
and fed by certain great fountains/^ f which are 
sup23lied from the far north by the melting snows 
of Mount Hermon. So, when there are no rains, 
and the tributaries of the Jordan have dwindled to 
rills, the river itself is often full, and even to over- 
flowing. For the prophet to dwell directly upon 
the Jordan would be to incur great risk of discov- 
ery, for the population upon the river would natu- 
rally resort to the river as other waters failed. But 
the insignificant stream by which Elijah sat was 
perhaps naturally secluded, and was so small, com- 
J)ared with the larger stream, that its nearness to 
the Jordan, and the boldness that kept him in the 
neighbourhood of the king, would make his hiding- 
place more unsuspected and secure. 

The Lord^s command to Elijah, to hide himself 
from the persecuting rage of Ahab and Jezebel may 
teach us that it is no part of true piety to court op- 
position or martyrdom. Piety is most complete in 
any man when there is in his character a harmo- 
nious union of all the virtues. True religion im- 
parts zeal and boldness to stand at the post of duty 
in trying and perilous times; it teaches us and 

* LyncFs Dead Sea and the Jordan. 
t The Land and the Book, ii. 454. 



THE PROPHET BY THE BROOK CHERITH. 63 

enables us to endure the tribulations we cannot 
righteously avoid; yet it not only allows us, but it 
bids us^ decline a needless conflict. When we can 
retire from a vain contest without the surrender of 
precious principles, we should often do so. Thus 
our Lord taught the disciples whom he sent forth, 
" When they persecute you in one city, flee ye to 
another.^^ It was from wrong impressions of their 
obligations, both to themselves and to the truth, 
that some of the martyrs of the early Christian 
Church voluntarily braved martyrdom, though this 
was against the judgment of good men, and though 
sometimes these persons found less support in their 
trials than God gave to those who better exhibited 
the true spirit of the Gospel. Our duty is often the 
delicate decision between conflicting claims. Even 
in a soldier bravery is but one of the many quali- 
ties upon which true success depends. The com- 
mander of an army, intrusted with important pow- 
ers under heavy responsibilities, should not put these 
interests in peril except when wisdom and prudence 
and intelligence decide that skill and valour can 
prevail. Let him fight when he stands upon any 
fair terms with the foe, and has a great object to 
gain ; but where there are no hopes of success, the 
efforts which might otherwise be esteemed wise and 
gallant would truly be the wicked, wanton and 
cruel waste of life. A well-ordered retreat may 
show more true courage, more masterly skill than a 
battle^ as the name of Xenophon is scarcely loss 



64 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

illustrious for saving ten thousand men than that 
of Leonidas, who sacrificed three hundred men that 
Greece might be saved. Thus, in all our life, 
duties are to be decided by principle, and not by- 
impulses; and they are happiest who take their 
way, as Elijah now did, by the word of the Lord, 
however they may know the divine will. 

Elijah stayed by the brook during the first year. 
The drought lasted over three years, Luke iv. 25 ; 
James v. 17. But it ended in the third year of 
his stay with the widow of Zarephath, 1 Kings 
xviii. 1. Thus three years and a half were spent 
in comparative inactivity — one year in absolute 
seclusion from human society. In our busy, bust- 
ling age, in the restlessness of human activity in 
any age, we are in danger of too highly estimating 
the active efforts of life, and of overlooking the 
holy principles that lie at the secret springs of 
all valuable exertion. In sending Elijah to these 
solitudes, God deals not with him, nor with his 
own cause, according to the thoughts or the wis- 
dom of men. Israel was apostate from Jehovah^s 
service, and Elijah was the boldest and most emi- 
nent prophet of his age. Consult human wisdom 
concerning the means best adapted to bring about 
a reformation, and Elijah would have been sent 
forth, as his later vision suggests, like an earth- 
quake or a storm, rather than especially to shut 
him up in the solitudes of Cherith. We would 
have sent the great Eeformer forth with a whirl- 



THE PROPHET BY THE BROOK CHERITH. 65 

Wind of stirring eloquence^ to preach repentance in 
all the tribes, protected by the very excitement 
which his awakening words had raised, and using 
an irresistible. popular enthasiasm to overawe the 
haughty court and the cruel Jezebel. We would 
have him throw down the calves of Jeroboam as 
Moses destroyed the calf at Sinai, and stay the flow 
of human blood upon BaaFs altars, and avenge the 
persecutions of his brethren. And Elijah's zeal 
may have panted for such a commission. 

But the divine methods are quite otherwise. 
The giant oak is not built to last for centuries 
with ponderous scaffolding and noisy hammers, 
but by the quiet deposit of an acorn out of man's 
sight beneath the ground. It is very remarkable, 
in the history of the Church of God, that some of 
his most able and energetic ministers have been 
providentially set aside from the exercise of their 
ministry, idle and apparently useless ; and this too 
at critical periods, when their preaching seemed 
most acceptable to God's people and most needful 
for the advancement of his cause. Doubtless thus 
God deals in providence with those who are not * 
his prophets ; and we wonder that so many, capa- 
ble of great usefulness, are not brought forward 
into usefulness, but fill some quiet and unnoticed 
niche, though they might have been the leaders 
of national enterprises. 

"FuH many a gem, of purest ray serene, 
The dark, unfatliomed caves of ocean bear ; 
6 * 



66 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

FuH many a flower is born to blush unseen, 
And waste its sweetness on the desert air." 

Specially speaking now of those whom God calls 
to preach his truth among men, we have often 
w^ondered to see able and beloved ministers laid 
aside by feebleness of body or by the inexorable 
stroke of an early death, while yet they were so 
well fitted for their work, while there was so much 
work to do, and while so few seemed fitted and 
ready to do it. 

And sometimes in his strange dealings with his 
Church he treats his ministers as he did Elijah at 
Cherith. The prophet had life and health, vigour 
in the body and furniture of mind, willingness to 
labour for the Lord, and everything, apparently, 
but the opportunity to preach. Yet indeed God's 
later providence has often wonderfully vindicated 
his wisdom in thus enforcing silence upon his faith- 
ful servants. Let us notice a few examples that 
have become familiar. AVhen the English Act of 
Uniformity so cruelly shut up the pulpits of two 
thousand ministers, and forbade them, under severe 
penalties, to come within five miles of their former 
churches, great distress was brought upon them; 
but great good grew out of it for succeeding times, 
from the new labours to which they were forced to 
turn. Prevented from preaching, they made use 
of their pens. Their writings have since been 
republished and widely sent forth ; and, for gener- 
ations to come, the sterling theology of the seven- 



THE PROPHET BY THE BROOK CHERITH. 67 

teenth century will be as deep wells of living 
water, whence the thirsty may draw refreshing 
supplies. Eichard Baxter was one of the divines 
thus silenced, and we may reckon his "Saints^ 
Everlasting Rest ^^ among the volumes thus provi- 
dentially furnished to the people of God. We 
cannot indeed ascribe it to persecution, for it 
was written at least thirteen years before the Act 
of Uniformity was issued. But the author was in 
feeble health, away from home, with no book in 
his hand but the Bible, and, to use his own lan- 
guage, by Providence " happily forced to the work 
of meditation.^^ 

And there is another book of fame as wide and 
usefulness as marked as any ever written without 
the direct inspiration of the Almighty ; and it is a 
•cherished remembrance of God\s people that this 
owes its origin to that mystery of Providence 
which so long and so painfully silenced a healthy, 
zealous and spiritual preacher. How did Satan 
miss the mark when he urged the enemies of that 
humble English tinker to shut him up for twelve 
long years in a prison ! But for this act of perse- 
cution the world might never have possessed such 
a book as the " Pilgrim's Progress.^^ Lord Camp- 
bell, an eminent chief justice of England, speaks 
thus of that immortal work : " Had Bunyan been 
discharged and allowed to enjoy his liberty, he no 
doubt would have returned to his trade, filling up 
his intervals of leisure with field-preaching ; his 



68 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

name would not have survived his own generation, 
and he would have done little for the religious im- 
provement of mankind. The prison doors were 
shut upon him for twelve years. Being cut off 
from the external world, he communed with his 
own soul '^ (and with Godj ; '^ he composed that 
noble allegory which has done more to awaken 
piety and to enforce the precepts of Christian 
morality than all the sermons that have been 
published by all the prelates of the Anglican 
Church.^' So Macaulay writes of him : " It may 
be doubted whether any English Dissenter had 
suffered more severely under the penal laws than 
John Bunyan.'^"^ It cannot at all be doubted by 
a pious mind that the providence of a gracious 
God has given his humble servant a large reward 
of his patience. 

In the sacred writings we have two remarkable 
instances where God laid aside the most able 
preacher of his age when the great harvest-fields 
around seemed to demand the most laborious toils. 
Just as the Christian apostles seemed entering 
upon a career of triumphs; when Saul of Tarsus 
had not only been stopped as a persecutor, but 
converted to the faith and sent forth to preach it; 
when he was more laborious and more successful 
than his brethren ; when he had already wrought 
so much good, had acquired "so large an influence 
by U2)right * means, and had the care of so many 
^ Hist. England, ch. vii., vol. ii. 177. 



THE PROPHET BY THE BROOK CHERITH. 69 

churches resting upon him, and when he was so 
ready and so able to work, and there were so many 
open and inviting fields in the heathen w^orld 
calling for the zeal and eloquence and prayerful- 
ness of just such a preacher, — man would almost 
say that Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, could 
not be spared from the service of the rising Church. 
It is God^s own work; God had raised up this in- 
strument to do the work ; God would continue him 
in it. But God's ways are not our ways. The 
active career of this able and successful preacher 
was suddenly stopped. He was arrested by hostile 
hands at Jerusalem; he was detained more than 
two years a prisoner at Csesarea; he was sent, in 
an inclement season of the year, upon a long and 
dangerous voyage, was subjected to shipwreck in 
midwinter, and after years of comparative idleness 
was still kept in confinement at Rome. Yet we hear 
the cheerful voice of this apostle exclaiming that 
these things — so contrary to human expectation — 
had '' fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the 
gospel.'^ Phil. i. 12. Paul had access to men 
whom he could never have reached ; he had secured 
a favourable hearing for his messages, such as per- 
haps he might have sought in vain but for tho 
violence of his persecutors. The wrath of man was 
made to praise the Lord. And in the case before 
us, Elijah — a man so well fitted to call the nation 
to repentance — is restrained from a mission of zeal 
and activity, and when Israel needs his teachings 



70 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

sits down a fugitive and an exile, hiding idly in 
the solitudes of Cherith. 

While we may not know all the reasons of these 
divine counsels, we may yet learn some important 
lessons from these orderings of his hand. Espe- 
cially we may know this, that God, in conducting 
human affairs and in blessing his Church, will not 
give the glory to any man. Sometimes, as we have 
already noticed, he would show us how^ he can 
overrule the most untoward events for larger good; 
at other times he teaches that the life and labours of 
no living servant are essential to his cause; that 
Elijah and Paul are but messengers whom God 
condescends to employ, and that he can afford to set 
them aside even when their labours seem urgently 
needed. And besides that thus he maintains his 
sovereignty, he secures another important end in 
his moral government. He could carry on his 
work of grace without prophet or preacher, but he 
uses human instrumentality; and this he does in 
such a way as to bless both the preacher and the 
hearer. The kingdom of God, in all the dispen- 
sations of the Church, is in the soul of man ; and 
God sets his servants at profitable rather than at 
pleasant work. Give Paul his choice and he would 
a hundred-fold prefer to wear out his energies in 
laborious preaching in the streets of Rome, rather 
than to let them rust out in the inglorious sloth of 
a Roman prison. And Elijah would doubtless have 
preferred the energetic discharge of a prophet's 



THE PROPHET BY THE BROOK CHERITH. 71 

duties, as he afterward so boldly vindicated Je- 
hovah's law upon Carmel, rather than to sit down 
day after day in apparent uselessness by the disap- 
pearing waters of the brook Cherith. The slowly- 
passing hours were doubtless dreary, but not 
unprofitable. 

AVhen a man is thus laid aside by God's provi- 
dence — sometimes by sickness, sometimes by other 
agencies — he should esteem it a call to look into 
his own heart, and he should learn much of the 
inward workings both of grace and of depravity. 
In the busy duties of active life we are prone to 
neglect our hearts. But God sets great store by 
the life of religion in the souls of his people. And 
he seldom works large good by any man without 
first working good in that man. We may not 
limit his grace nor declare that he never blesses an 
unworthy instrumentality. On the contrary, he 
causes the wrath of man to praise him, and can 
awaken the souls of men by the most unlikely 
means. But w^e speak of God's ordinary methods 
of working. Usually, when he would work exten- 
sive good by any man, he carries on his work in 
the heart of that man, making him acquainted with 
himself and leading him to communion with God. 
A deeper work in the heart of a minister — perhaps 
a season of discouraged services, that seems as use- 
less as Elijah's sitting idle by the drying waters of 
Cherith — often precedes his larger usefulness 
among his people. Religion must be before God 



72 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

as well as before man; in the heart in order to the 
life; it consists in humility as truly as in zeal; in 
faith to suffer and to wait, as well as faith to expect 
and to do; in patience to endure, as well as courage 
to brave. 

Every Christian who attempts to substitute an 
active zeal for an humble dependence upon God 
will surely fail to reach the happiest results. For 
the minister the closet and the pulpit must not be 
separated, but he is strong for God's service in 
God's strength. For the private Christian, intelli- 
gence and devotion must be in full harmony. 
Elijah was a silent prophet, not necessarily an idle 
one. His prayers were not only upon Carmel, but 
also in these ravines of the Jordan. Seasons of dis- 
couragement, times of affliction, voluntary periods 
of withdrawing from the world, should be spent in 
communing with God. Elijah's active career came 
after his long silence. So Moses spent forty years 
in a desert exile, and began his eminent usefulness 
as tlie leader of God's people at an age when most 
men would be ready only for the grave. 

Yet the voluntary solitude which indicates a 
man's morbid distaste for duty is very different 
from the retirement which fits us for society. God 
has formed us for social life and laid many social 
obligations upon us. Is o man, therefore, can with- 
draw from society to become a monk or a hermit 
without violating the nature divinely given to him. 
He both refuses to receive from others and to exer- 



THE PROPHET BY THE BROOK CHERITH. 73 

cise toward them the mutual sympathies and duties 
that are inseparable from a rightly-ordered life. 
But because we are not to live apart from society, it 
does not follow that we are ever to live in public. 
We should have our seasons of retirement. Every 
Christian should have his daily seasons of private 
meditation and devotion. Every Sabbath should 
have its private services, which, as truly as public 
worship, should spread their influence over all the 
week. And special necessities, both public and 
private, according to the exigencies of pious ex- 
perience, should lead us to retirement, meditation 
and prayer — oftentimes with fasting and humili- 
ation. Various temptations make it difficult to 
keep such religious seasons of spiritual duty. We 
need special watchfulness in entering upon them. 
But they are greatly profitable if we avoid self- 
righteousness and in true humility seek seriously 
after God. 

Perhaps because Elijah^s engagements were per- 
sonal and experimental rather than public, we have 
no record of the time spent in these solitudes. 
Doubtless his faith had its fluctuations, and he may 
have spent many a sad hour as he saw the stream 
gradually failing before him. But even perplex- 
ities have their value, and we need not wonder if 
in this good man^s life there was the same mingling 
of hope and fear — of support and discouragement, 
which, like the crossing threads of the loom, are 
w^oven by divine providence into the web of our 



74 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

Christian experience. There was important support 
for Elijah in the truth that God had commanded 
him to hide in this spot; for to know that we are 
in the place ordered for us by his providence is 
always a good ground of consolation. Doubtless 
there was further support for his faith in the coming 
and going of those strange messengers whom God 
had commissioned to bring the prophet's supplies 
of daily food. We need not wonder that Elijah was 
fed in these solitudes. The rule of God's house is, 
^' If any man will not work^ neither shall he eat;'^ 
but there are different ways of serving him. Mil- 
ton's sonnet is almost sublime : 

" God doth not need 
Either man's work or his own gifts ; who best 
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best ; his state 
Is kingly ; thousands at his bidding speed, 
And post o'er land and ocean without rest ; 
They also serve who only stand and wait !" 

We may serve as acceptably in small matters as in 
great ; in sickness or health ; in doing much or in 
doing nothing. If w^e are standing where he has 
placed us, doing what he has given us to do, wait- 
ing till he bids us move, we are serving God as 
truly and are as truly acceptable in his sight as 
are his most active and laborious servants. Elijah 
was as truly in God's service by the brook and 
watching the failing waters as he was upon Carmel 
watching the gathering clouds. It was not now 
that the Lord asked, What doest thou here, Elijah? 



THE PROPHET BY THE BKOOK CHERITH. 75 

We need not wonder at the miraculous method of 
his supply, for indeed God's providential Avonders 
are often as great as these. That birds of prey- 
should bring the prophet food may be justified on 
several accounts. These birds, being unfit for 
human food, would remain unmolested when other 
birds might be destroyed by the famishing people; 
being accustomed to seek for prey, their instincts 
could be more easily turned to this service; their 
regular flight in a time of distress, when such birds 
might find more food, would attract less special 
attention; and birds so strong might fly in a wider 
range, and even snatch their food from the altars 
of other lands. That Elijah should eat such food 
from such carriers would teach that the ceremonial 
laws might be set aside by just necessity; as in a 
less pressing case our Lord argues that God " will 
have mercy and not sacrifice.'^ 

As the brook gradually dried, perhaps Elijah 
feared for his supply. God might have opened a 
spring at his feet. But God gives him a new trial 
of faith. He must leave this refuge for another. 
He must go, not to friends in Israel, nor to the 
kingdom of Judah, but to a heathen city. He 
must pass through Ahab's dominions, almost di- 
rectly by Samaria and Jezreel. He must seek the 
territories governed by the father of Jezebel. And 
there his refuge was to be in the poverty-stricken 
abode of a widow woman. This was no mean 
trial of faith. To turn his back on Judah and Je- 



76 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

rusalem and the protecting shadow of God's own 
temple, and to go twice the distance in a more 
perilous direction, was not what man Avould wish. 
But the path of the divine commandment is safe, 
and the prophet pursued it. He arose at the 
Lord's bidding, not, perhaps, without his appre- 
hensions^ passed safely through the domains of his 
persecutors, and entering the kingdom of Zidon, 
approached the town of Zarephath. 

Extraordinary as is this narrative respecting the 
prophet, the lessons it teaches are for ordinary life. 
. The prophet lived by faith by the brook. His fel- 
low-believers in later times experience relief just as 
certainly from the hand of the same wonder-work- 
ing God. AYe sometimes wonder that the righteous 
are allowed to sink into perplexities so deep. Yet 
the entire dealings of God with us are designed to 
educate us as truly as to exhibit his grace and wis- 
dom. Past experience, in ourselves or in God's 
people, should vindicate the leadings of his hand, 
and assure us that " the Lord knoweth how to de- 
liver the godly out of temptation." 2 Peter ii. 9. 
Times of trouble may come upon us; our way may 
seem hedged up; we know not why we are left 
apparently useless and deserted ; we know not how 
we are to provide for our maintenance, or how we 
can accomplish any good. Yet many circumstances, 
many reflections, may sustain us if we are but in 
the pathway of duty. If he has placed us in this 
lot, he knows fully all its trials. He is accustomed 



THE PROPHET BY THE BROOK CHERITH. 77 

to lead his people in dark ways of his choosing 
rather than in light ways of their own; yet is he 
often slow to reveal his purposes^ until he has 
brought us to the true recognition of his hand. As 
to the time and method and means of our deliver- 
ance from evil, he often works as we cannot antici- 
pate; yet his people have ever confessed that he 
has dealt with them better than their fears. 

Our constant tendency is to trust God too little. 
"We often, indeed, trust presumptuously; that is, 
giving no due heed to his teachings of our duty or 
of his methods of working ; and this is not trusting 
him at all. And he rebukes both our presumption 
and our distrust. He gives lessons of our own ex- 
perience ; he allows us to read lessons in the history 
of the Church ; he affords us clear promises in his 
word to assure our confidence. The God of Eli- 
jah lives, and yet feeds and guides his people. So 
far as principles are concerned, he deals with us as 
he did with him ; and we may, with little danger 
of misconception, use the same terms to express his 
dealings. "We see our streams gradually dry up ; we 
fear they may fail ; we are dejected and dispirited. 
Yet he is faithful to his promises. In their Lord's 
service the Lord's people may look for safety. 

The Lord's service is to do or to suffer the Lord's 
will, however he may make that will known to 
us. Does he call us to sit down in solitude and 
mourn over the desolations of Zion? The set time 
for favour draws near, when her children take 



78 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

pleasure in her stones and favour her scattered 
dust. Yet, let us not think he has forgotten his 
cause because we feel helpless to further it. They 
who stand still through indolence or indifference 
are indeed guilty, but in times when we can only 
wait and pray let us do this also cheerfully. Ready 
for God^s service, we will never have just views of 
it till w^e know that it can go on without us. He 
carried it on before we were born, and he will advance 
it after we are dead. There is a kind of complaining 
in times of declension that does no possible good, 
and we may sigh all our lives and keep going back- 
ward. Let us cultivate humility and patience and 
resignation and faith, as well as zeal and activity. 
Religion is the love and service of God ; it is inde- 
pendent of particular circumstances; it may be 
doing or suffering. Perhaps in dark times, when 
we can see his way imperfectly, our trust in him 
may give him the most honour. 



CHAKi L... 
THE FAITS OF THJE WIDOW OF ZAJtEFU 

IN no one matter have we a more striking con- 
trast between the Church of God in Elijah^s 
times and in our own than in regard to the influ- 
ence exerted upon foreign nations. The Jewish 
Church was not a missionary and aggressive 
Church; the Christian Church is essentially so. 
The one was in prosperity in proportion as the peo- 
ple kept themselves apart from the rest of the 
world; the other, perhaps, in proportion as her 
members, in true obedience to our Lord's command, 
go forth to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation in 
all the earth. And yet the vital principles of piety 
are the same for the former and for the present dis- 
pensations; and the Jewish people, though sepa- 
rated from the rest of the world, could not but have 
-^ an important influence, especially upon the neigh- 
bouring tribes. The design of their separation was 
not to prevent their exerting an influence upon the 
nations ; this would have been contrary to the es- 
sential spirit of true religion. Rather it was to 
prevent the people of Israel from being influenced 
by the other nations. For this reason the abomi- 

79 



80 THE TRANSLATED PHOPHET. 

nations of the Canaanites were so severely punished 
by the sword of Joshua ; the people were forbidden 
to have intercourse with other nations^ and laws 
were enacted that seem to us Avonderfully strict and 
severe. That they were not too careful is proved 
by the fact that even these precautions proved inef- 
fectual. In spite of all this care, that people did 
make alliances with the Gentiles, did adopt idola- 
trous practices, and seemed in danger of losing the 
principles of which, as a separated people, they were 
the special guardians. 

But though the people of Israel were thus influ- 
enced by other nations, they must also have exerted 
some influence upon the outside world, and this far 
beyond their direct contact with the tribes just 
about them. We are not to think of the earth 
then as it is now, for intercourse was slow and re- 
stricted in every direction, and the nations knew 
comparatively little of each other. Yet this people 
of God held in their hands his oracles; these 
teachings were incomparably superior to all else the 
world contained ; and even in the worst times of 
Israel, the struggles of a faithful remnant would 
declare these great thoughts, so as to keep the testi- 
mony of God before the minds of men. And when 
religion flourished among the Israelites themselves, 
there may have been many salutary influences sent 
abroad. Providentially the Hebrew tribes were 
surrounded by all the great nations of the ancient 
world ; their land bordered upon Asia, Africa and 



FAITH or THE WIDOW OF ZAKEPHATH. 81 

Europe, and thus the Jews stood like a light-house 
for the world. Especially in the palmy days of 
David and Solomon they exerted a large influence. 
The twelve ti'ibes were united under one monarchy ; 
they had abundant prosperity; Jerusalem became 
the centre of a well-established worship ; many 
proselytes seem to have joined themselves to Juda- 
ism, and even distant nations heard of the glory in 
Israel. Matt. xii. 42. 

The times of Ahab seem unfavourable times for 
exerting any influence in favour of the Jewish reli- 
gion upon the nations around them. How^ could 
idolaters be won to Jehovah's service w4ien the 
covenant people themselves had forsaken him, had 
cast down his altars, had slaughtered his prophets, 
and had turned to the abominations of Baal ? And 
yet, indeed, there is a sense in which the principles 
of religion testify clearly when the practice of pro- 
fessedly religious people is worst ; men see the con- 
trast between what these people are and what they 
should be ; and the very ability to discern and con- 
demn their apostasy implies the knowledge and the 
approval of the principles they have dishonoured. 
The testimony of religion will condemn its rejectors 
as surely when its professors reproach it as when 
they adorn it. And at this period it was clearly 
understood by the nations that the Israelites had 
departed from their God, and that the judgment on 
the land was a fearful proof of his indignation and 
power. The proclamation made by Elijah was 



82 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

made only more fully known by Ahab's efforts to 
arrest the prophet ; and he published both the 
threatening and its fearful fulfilment in the neigh- 
bouring kingdoms. And those things would be 
well known in Zidon, because by the marriage of 
Ahab those two kingdoms were upon friendly terms. 
So, indeed, while Jezebel was hardened against the 
divine judgments, some of her own people may 
have better understood the true principles involved 
in the Lord^s controversy. Especially the humble 
woman to whom now the narrative introduces us 
may have learned to know and fear and worship 
the wonder-working God of Jacob. 

Obedient to the command of the Lord, Elijah 
had left his place of solitary concealment; had 
traversed the full length of Ahab's dominions ; 
had thus seen, as he passed along, the traces 
both of wickedness and judgment; and had ar- 
rived, it may be faint and weary, Avith thirst and 
hunger and travel, at the heathen village whither 
the Lord had sent him. A woman was by the 
gate gathering sticks ; * and there seems evidently 

* As a curious specimen of the methods of allegorical inter- 
pretation used by many of the ancient Fathers, I give the fol- 
lowing from Augustine, who was by no means the most fanciful 
in such matters. He is discoursing upon Elijah ; forewarns 
his hearers that he designs to give the " spirit that quicken- 
eth,^^ rather than the "letter that killeth," and makes a long 
parallel between this prophet and our Lord. When he reaches 
this passage, he says : 

^^ Therefore when Elijah came, the Widow had gone forth to 



FAITH OF THE WIDOW OF ZAREPHATH. 83 

to be a kind of mutual recognition. The prophet 
beholds the woman in whose house he is to be a 
guest ; and though we have no reason to think 
that she was previously aware of his comings she 
recognizes him as an Israelite^ and, by his hairy 
garment, as a prophet of the Lord. She must 
have known somewhat the circumstances of the 
kingdom, especially as her own people were now 
suffering with Israel. She had heard of the per- 
secution carried on by Jezebel, and of the search 
made for Elijah. Possibly she at once suspected 
that this haggard, weather-beaten man, who had 
not known the shelter of a roof for a twelve-month, 
was the prophet upon whose life a price was set, 
and against whom the Zidonian princess had 
breathed such vows of vengeance. Was not 
Elijah afraid to address a stranger, who might 
betray him to the Zidonians? Yet doubtless all 
he had eaten since he began his journey was a 
scanty supply of food; necessity may have urged 
him even to venture exposure ; and God's declara- 

gather two sticks. Observe, my brethren, that it does not say 
three, nor four, nor one stick only ; but she wished to gather 
two. So she collected two sticks, because in the type of Elijah 
she received Christ. She wished to gather two sticks, because 
she desired to recognize the mystery of the cross ; for the cross 
of our Lord the Saviour was composed of two beams. So 
this widow gathered two sticks, because the Church was here- 
after to believe in him who was suspended upon two beams." 
(He repeats the idea in Homily xviii.) — Works x. 321, Edition 
0/1616. 



84 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

tion that a widow woman should sustain him en- 
couraged his application. 

But especially worthy of our attention here is 
the faith of this heathen woman, through which 
a blessing comes upon herself and her household. 
In this particular incident the narrative derives 
great additional interest from a reference made to 
it by our Lord Jesus Christ. We are told that 
upon the morning of a certain Sabbath he read 
the Scriptures in the synagogue at Nazareth. Yet 
did he not expect that the people of that town, 
where he had passed the chief part of his life, 
would receive his instructions or regard him as 
a prophet. He quoted against them a proverbial 
saying, that a '' prophet is not without honour, 
save in his own country ;^^ and then reminded 
them, by two important examples from the Old 
Testament, that God could find other objects of 
his grace, if they were so guilty as to refuse the 
blessings brought near to them. His teachings 
gave great offence. This may have been, not 
only that he implies the general principle that 
man may not prescribe any law to God for dis- 
pensing his favours,* but also that he intimates 
the divine rejection of Israel for their unbelief, 
and proves that such intimations had before been 
given by the prophets. Elisha wrought a cure, 
not on the lepers who met his eye from day to 
day in Israel, but upon a Syrian general. Elijah 
^ Calvin in N. T. i. 120. 



FAITH OF THE WIDOW OF ZAREPHATH. 85 

passed the cloor of many a widow In his own land, 
but his errand was to Zidon, and he took up his 
abode with a heathen widow. Doubtless here w^e 
have the divine sovereignty, but a sovereignty in 
righteousness that is displeased with the unbelief 
of a highly-favoured people. 

When Elijah met this woman, to whom divine- 
guidance had led his steps, she was almost at the 
last extremity ; and in deep dejection was gathering 
sticks enough to prepare from her last morsel the 
last meal for herself and her son. As nothing is 
said to imply that she was an idolater, except her 
residence in Zidon, it is possible she was an hum- 
ble though poorly-taught worshipper of the true 
God, upon the borders of w^hose land she lived. 
Certainly she received the prophet with a respect, 
a readiness and a strength of faith that calls our 
attention. Knowing him by his dress as a prophet 
of Israel, she received him with the utmost cor- 
diality. He asked for water. With true Eastern 
hospitality, she forgets her own feebleness and 
hastens to bring it. But he stops her again : 
^^Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in 
thine hand.^^ This is asking a great deal, in her 
circumstances. She and her son need for them- 
selves wdiat they have in the house, for it is the 
last. The son, it is likely, was young. She does 
not speak of him as one capable of caring for his 
own wants, but he is dependent upon her. His 
youth and feebleness appeal all the more tenderly 



86 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

to tlie mother's heart. Now this travel-worn 
stranger steps in and asks for the last morsel. 
Shall she see her child die the sooner for giving 
it to this man? 

He promises indeed that her little store shall not 
fail till the days of famine are gone. But what 
assurance has she that he speaks words of truth ? 
He is a stranger to her, and these are wonderful 
words. If he has the power to provide food thus, 
why is he under any necessity of asking a widow's 
last meal ? Indeed if these strange words are true, 
there is an easy way to test them. Why does he 
not say, '' You and your son eat first. I am will- 
ing to take what you leave, for there shall be 
enough for us all.'' Difficulties such as these 
may easily have occurred to the mind of that 
suffering woman. We can scarcely suppose they 
did not ; and it seems marvellous faith that, in 
spite of them, she hearkened to his w^ords. Edu- 
cated in heathenism, belonging to Zidon rather 
than Israel, taking views of all these matters 
different from those Elijah might have, her com- 
pliance is proof of no ordinary thoughts. It is 
likely that many widows in Israel would have 
rejected his word. It was in this same region of 
country that our Lord, long afterward, gave to 
another Gentile woman his hearty commendation 
of her great faith. 

Let us not lay aside the important reflection that 
the widow of Zarephath, not without the influences 



FAITH OF THE WIDOW OF ZAREPHATH. 87 

of divine grace, reposed this faith in the prophet's 
word. True faith has its origin, in all cases, in 
the Holy Spirit's workings. God declared to his 
prophet that he had commanded this widow woman 
to sustain him. Yet it is likely that she knew of 
no other divine command than that which came 
through the opportunity providentially afforded 
and the words of the prophet calling her to exer- 
cise this hospitality. The secret influences of the 
Spirit, inclining her to obedience, are inscrutable. 
Not otherwise than through a cheerful and willing 
submission did she yield to his request. Thus 
divine grace works in the calling and conversion 
of every renewed and believing soul. God employs 
instrumentalities which we recognize more or less 
easily as appointed by him for this end ; but his 
is the gracious efficacy, whether we can or cannot 
trace the steps by which the soul is led to him. 
No conversion is by chance. Not casually does 
any man meet the messengers of mercy and hear 
from them the precious truth that saves the soul. 
Not by chance have men an open sanctuary, nor 
by chance are their steps led there; and the finger 
of God directs his servants to the timely teachings 
which grace makes effectual to salvation. We 
should neither overlook the human instrumental- 
ity nor the divine efficiency. This woman is not 
called without the prophet; but to other ears the 
same words mio;ht have come in vain. Plantino; 
and watering arc needful, but the increase is from 



0» THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

above. God influences the hearts of men through 
the truth, but only the Spirit of God^ working in 
and by tlie truth, leads to the exercise of saving 
faith. Let us ever seek to place our minds in 
contact with the truth ; let us rejoice to receive 
and rest upon it ; but let us ever pray for and 
yield to the gracious influences of the Holy Ghost, 
whose power we so much need. 

Humanly speaking, many barriers to faith stood 
before this Gentile woman ; and God dealt with 
her as he usually does with the subjects of grace. 
Grace comes in conflict with human infirmity and 
human depravity, and gains its victories, not by 
arbitrarily silencing the arguments of sense and 
sin, but by opening the eyes to better arguments. 
The service of God is so excellent that faith can 
afford to count the cost fairly and fully. And 
sometimes faith acts decidedly and promptly, even 
in difficult cases. This woman hardly seems like 
a heathen : she shows no sympathy with Jezebel, 
her native princess ; recognizing Elijah as a ser- 
vant of Jehovah, she betrays no prejudice against 
him ; and there is no cavilling at the apparent con- 
flict between his request for food for himself and 
his promise of food to her. It would not seem 
strange to us if she had spoken of these things : 
" If this man can make my barrel of meal outlast 
the famine, what need has he to beg a widow^s 
last crust ? How can this man be the favoured 
servant of Jehovah, and yet be reduced to this 



FAITH OF THE WIDOW OF ZAREPHATH. 89 

pitiable distress ? ^^ If she had any thoughts like 
these, yet the rapid and clear conceptions of an 
interested and awakened mind thrust them all 
aside, that she might reach the just conclusion 
of an intelligent faith. Her alternative was cer- 
tain death or life through the prophet's words. 
If she prepared this last meal for herself and her 
son, it could keep them alive but a little longer ; 
if this man^s words were true, there might be food 
and life for them all. Her only hope was in this 
strange but desirable assurance. She may have 
had her misgivings, but she did not allow them 
to hinder her. She believed Elijah^s word. She 
prepared the meal and placed it before him ; and 
she found the beginnings of her reward when he 
and her family ate of the unfailing supply for many 
days. 

It was indeed a notable miracle that at the word 
of Elijah the meal -of the widow's barrel, though 
already nearly gone, sufficed for their support 
through the remaining years of the famine. The 
oil was olive oil, used, not for light, but in cook- 
ing, to supply the place of lard or butter as used 
by us. Yet in this miracle we need not be sur- 
prised at the power which wrought thus, since we 
must at once confess that the power of God every 
day of the world's history does greater wonders 
than this. He feeds thousands of households in 
all the earth, century after century : is it a great 
thing that he should thus sustain this household? 



90 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

Nor need we wonder at the method of multiplying 
the meal and the oil, since indeed the ordinary- 
increase of human food is the increase of each after 
its kind. The waving harvests of the field are but 
the multiplication of the seed sown by the farmer's 
hand : this is by a process which we call natural. 
Yet this is but a term we apply to a familiar pro- 
cess ; while the power that secures such results is 
certainly not inferior to that which works the most 
wonderful miracle. 

An Eastern fable is narrated to this effect : When 
Solomon was young he desired his preceptor, Nathan 
the prophet, to show him a miracle demonstrating 
beyond question the existence, power and goodness 
of God. At first the sage declined the trial ; but 
being urged by the young prince, finally consented 
to his request. He placed before him a vessel 
filled wath common earth. He then took a minute 
and curious ball and put it just beneath the surface 
of the earth, and bade the young man look. Pres- 
ently a tiny and delicate spear sprung up from the 
soil, almost immediately it forked into blades, then 
became a small tree with its branches and leaves ; 
and hardly had these appeared when beautiful 
flowers bloomed for a moment, and then fell, de- 
caying to make way for the fruit that swelled and 
ripened rapidly before the admiring eyes of the 
young disciple. But w^hen this wonder, occur- 
ring within, the space of a few moments, called 
forth from Solomon expressions of surprise, con- 



FAITH OF THE WIDOW OF ZAREPHATH. 91 

victlon and delight, his wise preceptor replied : 
^^ My son, you have seen this miracle a thousand 
times and in a thousand varying ways before. 
Every year bears infinite testimony to God^s be- 
ing and power and goodness, in the springing 
seed, the growing plant, the opening flower, the 
maturing fruit. If the changes are slower, they 
are not less real ; and in the orderings of Provi- 
dence all around us a candid mind has proof of 
God's goodness a thousand-fold more satisfactory 
than any casual miracle can afford. '^ 

Indeed, if we are merely seeking for proof of God's 
existence and wisdom, the wonders of his providence 
are greater than any miracle ever recorded. We 
would be surprised to see a seed swell up in a few 
moments into the ripened plant or the stately tree ; 
yet it is better proof of God's goodness that these 
changes, really taking place, are slow and not rapid. 
For here is new proof of his goodness and wisdom. 
What a calamity it would prove, how listless men 
would become, how desolate the earth would be, if 
the fruits for an entire year should bud and blossom 
and bear their harvest all in a single day ! Such a 
thing every day would give a wastefulness of Provi- 
dence far beyond the earth's supply. If it occurred 
but one day in each season, what dreariness of the 
landscape, what idleness for man through all the year ! 
The earth is more beautiful, man is happier, God is 
more kind, that his providential wonders are delibe- 
rately wronglit. The object of the scriptural mira- 



92 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

cles is not to attest the being and power of God. 
We have ampler proof of this in Providence than 
in any of the miracles recorded in the Bible. Mira- 
cles are designed to attest the mission of a prophet ; 
for this they suffice. 

But the significancy of the wonder wrought at Eli- 
jah's word in this widow woman's household may re- 
mind us of dealings which God yet exhibits to the 
sons of men. Laying aside the extraordinary and sub- 
stituting the providential agencies, we may say that 
God often repeats the wonder wrought for this widow 
by Elijah's hands. As we said before, the means are 
extraordinary, the lessons are ordinary. The widow's 
family is not alone among those that are destitute 
of the means of livelihood, save as God's kind 
providence affords their supplies. How many fami- 
lies in all the earth are compelled to take their 
daily food from a scanty store, that seems at the point 
of failing all their lives ! They are often deeply de- 
jected that now they are using the last meal, and 
yet, as the widow's barrel was never empty, they 
have never gone without their supply. Thousands 
rise in the morning not knowing what shall be the 
provision for the day ; they are often in straits from 
which they can see no path of deliverance; they are 
ready to think that God has forgotten. Yet God 
leaves not himself without witness, ever granting 
his kind supplies to the evil and the unthankful. 
The wonders of Divine Providence, when he opens 
his hand and supplies the wants of every living 



FAITH OF THE WIDOW OF ZAREPHATH. 93 

thing, should be regarded as constant proofs of his 
wisdom and kindness. God^s believing people have 
often lived upon a promise of the same tenour as that 
which Elijah gave to this widow: "Bread shall be 
given thee, water shall be sure/^ Indeed, some of 
God's holiest and happiest people have lived by the 
day ; nor does he give us any warrant to ask for 
more than our daily food. 

The widow of Zarephath believed Elijah's word. 
That she did so reproves the sinful men who hear 
the gospel of Christ and yet believe not to the 
souFs life. Their faith may more reasonably be 
looked for than hers. She had an object to gain — 
the food of her household — far inferior to that 
which we should set before our eyes, the souPs 
salvation. And every serious thought makes our 
indifference and unbelief inexcusable as compared 
with this woman's faith. She trusted a stranger, 
with no opportunity of investigating his claims 
upon her faith ; we read God's familiar teachings, 
and our faith may have every thoughtful and intel- 
ligent support. She trusted to a man's word ; we 
read God's own revelation. She trusted at once ; 
and the counsels and promises of the gospel have 
often been urged in vain upon us. Her faith seems 
entirely contrary to the training of a heathen edu- 
cation, while all we have been taught should rather 
support our reliance on the gospel. Quite as im- 
portant as any other matter of comparison between 
us, let us notice that this woman exercised imme- 



94 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

diate faith in a promise that had never a parallel in 
the history of man. Who ever heard of a handful 
of meal never failing, though constantly used? If 
this strange event had been a common occurrence, 
if even it had several times before occurred to her 
knowledge, her faith in the prophet's word would 
have been far less remarkable. Yet she believed, 
though this thing w^as so strange and new. Here 
her faith stands quite apart, and seems greatly more 
difficult than that of a sinful soul, who is called to 
trust for salvation upon the Son of God. Indeed, 
it IS A GREAT THING to have our sins forgiven, to 
roll our burden upon Christ, to look forward to the 
rest and joys of heaven. But, blessed by the mercy 
of our God, great as this thing is, it is not un- 
usual, and the believing sinner is not called to go in 
a strange and untrodden path. Many have trusted 
in him ; many of our own happiest acquaintances are 
numbered among those that are justified by faith; 
none have ever trusted in him and been confounded. 
Was this woman right in her believing ? And have 
we not many advantages over her which must join 
to condemn the perverseness of our unbelief? 

She reminds us, moreover, that the blessings men 
secure are not always in proportion to the privileges 
afforded to them. This is a lesson which the Great 
Teacher often impressed upon his hearers. And so, 
in all the ministry of Christ, only upon two occa- 
sions did he commend the faith of those who waited 
on him, and both of those were Gentiles. Many 



FAITH OF THE WIDOW OF ZAREPHATH. 95 

widows were in Israel in Elijah's days, yet the 
prophet blessed this heathen believer. And at the 
last many shall come from the east and from the 
west, and from the north and from the south, and 
shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, 
while the children of the kingdom shall be cast out. 
Not to hear the gospel but to obey it, not to pos- 
sess privileges but to improve them, brings a blessing 
to the soul. Let us not be high-minded, but fear. 
We have enjoyed manifold advantages in the or- 
dainings of Divine Providence. So much the worse 
for us if we abuse them. There are valid reasons 
for expecting our faith and obedience — valid reasons 
for condemning us if we are indifferent and unbe- 
lieving. The men of Sodom, the queen of Sheba, 
the widow of Zarephath, the dwellers in Capernaum 
will rise up in the judgment against many in Chris- 
tian lands. Indeed, thousands rescued from pa- 
ganism in our own age wdll condemn many in 
Christian countries, for they have repented and 
found salvation with opportunities immeasurably 
less than ours. 

And this woman teaches us that humble piety in 
any heart is of great esteem in the sight of God. 



CHAPTER VI. 

EILIJAIB: JRAISIXG to ZIFE TJBEE widows SOX. 

FOR two years and a half, as we suppose, Elijah 
remained with the widow of Zarephath. His 
accommodations were, perhaps, humble, but they 
sufficed for his moderate wants, and they formed a 
gift from the widow acceptable in the sight of God. 
How carefully does the Bible assure us that " if 
there be first a willing heart it is accepted, accord- 
ing to that a man has, and not according to that he 
has not/^ This woman, in her gift to Elijah of her 
own last morsel, reminds us of the later commenda- 
tion of our Lord toward a certain poor widow who 
was liberal above all the worshippers ; for others cast 
into the treasury much from their abundance, and 
though she cast in but two mites, it was " all her 
living.'^ So may she call to our attention that 
general promise that whosoever gives a cup of cold 
%Yater only to a disciple in Christ's name, shall not 
lose his reward. 

We have no account of the engagements of 
Elijah during his stay at Zarephath. \Ye may 
believe that he taught in this lowly household the 
holy principles of his faith; and she seems well 

96 



ELIJAH RAISING TO LIFE THE WIDOW'S SON. 97 

prepared to receive the truth from his Hps. The 
narrative leads us to judge that Elijah was entirely 
secluded during his stay there; the miraculous 
supply of food precluded all necessity for inter- 
course with the community around ; and when he 
reappeared in Israel, no one seemed to know 
whence he came. 

One event of his sojourn is given us, but with 
no clue to the year of its occurrence. The child of 
his hostess took sick and died. He seems to have 
been an only son; and here is full room for the 
prophet's pious sympathy. Here again the history 
of Elijah reminds us of the history of Christ. 
Our Lord met with a case of bereavement, and it 
appealed to his tenderest feelings that the dead 
man was " the only son of his mother, and she was 
a widow.'' In their sympathy with the stricken 
parent, the disciple and the Master act upon the 
same principles. The widow beneath whose roof 
the prophet was, was in deep affliction. She im- 
putes her affliction to the prophet's presence, and 
recognizes it as bringing her sin to remembrance. 
We need not suppose that she thus confesses some 
especial and flagrant sin as the cause of this bereave- 
ment ; or that, if she does, her thoughts furnish us 
with any proper criterion of judgment in similar 
cases. But she may remind us that seasons of sor- 
row are divinely designed to turn our thoughts 
inward, to lead us to reflect upon our unworthiness, 
and to lay more heavily upon us that burden which 

7 



98 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

we oiiglit to feel, but which we are so prone to for- 
get at other times. It may be that she thought the 
death of her child a special punishment of her sin, 
through the prayers of the prophet. She knew that 
his prayers had brought famine upon Israel ; and 
now her self-accusing thoughts led to the fear that 
he had brought this sorrow upon a sinful woman. 
Perhaps this made Elijah solicitous to vindicate 
himself, even from a reproach that had no just 
foundation. 

It may be that the child^s death was sudden, and 
the prophet had no opportunity of praying for his 
recovery from sickness; or, as our Lord waited 
until Lazarus was dead before he came to the house 
of affliction, the delay of deliverance was for a 
greater display of the divine glory. The prophet 
resolved to pray for the child's restoration to life; 
though, so far as we know, such an event had never 
before occurred in all the history of the Church. 
Kot even among the great things done by Moses 
do we read of " wonders shown to the dead.'^ But 
Elijah was solicitous that the widow should not 
even seem to receive injury through dealing hospit- 
ably with him. His reputation as a prophet and 
the divine honour seem involved, and he made this 
great request of God. He took the child from his 
mother and carried him to his own apartment. 
Here, perhaps, he usually spent his time alone, for 
purposes both of secresy and devotion. He laid 
the body upon his bed and earnestly besought the 



ELIJAH RAISING TO LIFE THE WIDOW'S SON. 99 

Lord his God that the child^s life might be restored 
to him. He makes use of this simple plea, that 
evil was brought upon a house where a prophet 
had been hospitably received. The divine honour 
seemed implicated; and wherever this plea can be 
truly made we have the strongest foundation for 
prevalent prayer. Thus Elijah teaches us how to 
pray to the same God who hears us as he heard the 
prophet. Besides his pleadings the prophet uses 
means of restoration, as if the apparent death was 
but a case of suspended animation. So afterward 
did Elisha in a similar case. Yet both are spoken 
of, in the Scriptures, as having raised the dead to 
life; and this use of means may only mark more 
distinctly the dependence of these prophets, and 
show us a wide line of distinction between them 
and a greater prophet than either. These are 
servants in the house of God; but One was to come, 
the Son of God and the Lord of the prophets. 
When our Lord Jesus Christ did like wonders 
there was no such array of means. He took the 
sleeping damsel by the hand and bade her arise. 
He stood by the young man's bier and bade the 
sleeper awake with the sure voice of authority. 
He called Lazarus from the grave where he had 
lain four days, and the dead heard and obeyed. 
Great as was Elijah's wonder, we must give the 
pre-eminence, here and always, to a greater than 
Elijah. 

The Lord heard the prophet's prayer. The child 



100 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

revived and Elijah restored him to his mother. If 
she recognized him as a prophet before, much more 
now: if she trusted his word before, much more 
might she confide in one who wrought a wonder so 
great as this ! Yet here again her faith reproves 
and condemns men better taught than she. She 
believed ; yet the Jewish rulers not only rejected 
Christ Jesus after a greater wonder, but plotted 
also how they might put both him and Lazarus to 
death. John xii. 10. 

But this incident in the prophet's life is less im- 
portant to us than the principles involved in it. We 
have here one of those miraculous events that 
belong to the history of this prophet. It seems 
appropriate for us to speak particularly of miracles 
when we pass over the history of Moses, of Elijah, 
or of Christ, in whose times especially, as we shall 
notice, these wonders were wrought. We may thus 
be led to the repeated consideration of the subject, 
as we consider the beginning, the middle, or the 
end of the sacred history; as we think of Moses 
the first writer of the Bible, Christ the chief sub- 
ject of the entire Scriptures, or Elijah who stands 
between them and is peculiarly related to both. 

We may first tnrn our thoughts to inquire into 
the nature of the scriptural miracles. Yet we need 
not discuss the exact definitions that have been 
proposed by various writers upon the subject. It 
may suffice us to claim that a miracle, according to 
the Scriptures, is an extraordinary occurrence 



ELIJAH RAISIM TO LIFE THE WIDOW'S SON. 101 

attested to man's senses, for which we can only 
account by admitting that God has wrought. A 
thing is not miraculous merely because strange or 
wonderful. The events of God's providence con- 
stantly wrought around us are greater evidences 
of divine power than any of the miracles recorded 
in the Scriptures ; yet are they not miraculous. A 
miracle need not rank among the great things God 
can do; it is sufficient if it is something which 
man cannot do, and which therefore we must 
attribute to the working of God for important 
ends. To give sight miraculously to one man in a 
city is not a greater thing than to give sight to a 
thousand there in his natural workings; as a thou- 
sand men may have been born in Jericho with 
good eyes, and this was not miraculous ; but when 
Christ gave sight to Bartimeus, though he could 
then see no better than his neighbours could natur- 
ally, the occurrence was a miracle. 

It is a chief objection, not against the testimony 
that establishes the scriptural miracles, but against 
the possibility of any miracle occurring, that God 
is the author of the laws of nature, that these are 
wisely established, that they tend in the highest 
degree to promote the good of the universe, and 
that we cannot expect that God would work other- 
wise than through his own laws. We are willing 
to give its full proper force to the objection; nay, 
we are as desirous as any objector can be to main- 
tain the wisdom and the usual uniformity of the 



102 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

order of things in the natural world, as established 
by the Great liuler over all. Instead of over- 
throwing the proof of scriptural miracles by- 
establishing the ordinary uniformity of working 
in God^s laws in natural affairs, we aver that no 
possible proof could establish a miracle, and that no 
valuable end could be gained in its occurrence, 
unless these laws did ordinarily work with uni- 
formity. In the main the scoffer's declaration is 
true, ^^ All things continue as they were from the 
foundation of the world.'^ God has not only so 
constituted the universe that every effect must have 
an adequate cause, but he has so constituted the 
human mind that men readily believe this. 

Not only is this a most important principle in the 
divine rule over the universe, but this would be a 
world of unspeakable wretchedness and disaster if 
it were otherwise. It is uniform experience that 
bread nourishes a healthy body, that water quenches 
fire, and that powder explodes at the touch of a 
spark. But suppose that there was no uniform 
law to govern these things, or that there was 
irregularity so great that we were always uncertain 
what results would flow from our actions. If, some- 
times, water touching powder would cause an 
explosion, or a similar result occur from a spark 
touching water; if, sometimes, food would poison; 
if these irregularities were so great and so frequent 
that we never could be certain that any particular 
cause would secure a desired effect, the consequences 



ELIJAH RAISING TO LIFE THE WIDOW'S SON. 103 

would be dreadful. There would be no encourage- 
ment for industry, no room for human happiness. 
Nature's laws ordinarily act with entire uniformity. 
The advocates of miracles believe this as fully as 
anybody; and this faith is essential to their cause. 
If any event could casually occur, or occur without 
an adequate cause to produce it, then the event 
itself could jirove nothing. 

Before we can argue from a design we must be- 
lieve there is a design. And the greater the effect 
produced in any case, the higher is our estimate of 
its cause. An ordinary event proves an ordinary 
cause — an extraordinary event an extraordinary 
cause; make a thing out to be an accident and it 
proves nothing. Multiply accidents, irregularities, 
events without definite purpose or adequate causes, 
in the natural world, and the less possibility is 
there of proving a miracle; the less value in its 
occurrence. A miracle necessarily implies, firsty 
that God's workings are ordinarily by uniform 
laws, which men can observe, and by which they 
expect things to occur; and, secondly ^ that sufficient 
reason must be assigned for any departures from 
this natural uniformity. Thus we keep invariably 
unbroken the essential rule that every effect must 
have its appropriate and adequate cause. If reasons 
of more than ordinary power, if advantages of 
more tlian ordinary excellence, may justify extraor- 
dinary effects through the power of the Great 
Author of all laws, then no force of argument can 



104 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

render unreasonable the working of a miracle. 
Certainly there is no room to question the power 
of God to w^ork a miracle. Let us only find the 
just occasion for such a display of divine energy, 
and the working of a miracle is an effect to be as 
reasonably expected as anything else that is ever 
done by the power of God.* 

We may next inquire, What is the just occasion 
for a miracle ? A miracle itself is an event occur- 

* " And what then/' asked Smith, " do you make a miracle 
tober 

" I regard it/' said uncle, " to be merely such an interference 
wi' the established coorse o' things, as infallibly shows us the 
presence and the action o' a supernatural pooer. What o'clock 
is it wi' you, sir, if you please ?" 

"It is half-past twelve, exactly, Greenwich time/' replied 
Smith. 

" Well, sir," said uncle, pulling a huge old time-piece from 
his pocket, " it's ane o'clock wi' me ; I generally keep my watch 
a bittie forrit. [A little forward.] But I may hae a special 
reason the noo for setting my watch by the railways ; and so, 
see ye, I'm turnin' the hauns o't round. Noo wad ye say that I 
have violated the laws o' a watch ? True ; I hae dune what 
watchdom wi' a' its laws couldna hae dune for itself, but I hae 
done violence to nae o' its laws. My action is only the inter- 
ference o' a superior intelligence for a suitable end, but I hae 
suspended nae law, violated nae law. Weel, then, instead o' the 
watch say the universe ; instead o' moving the hands, say God 
acting worthily o' himsel', and ye had a' that I contend for in 
a miracle ; that is, the unquestionable presence of an Almichty 
hand working the divine will. And if he sees fit to work 
miracles, wha can hinder him, what can hinder him ? He has 
dune it aftener than ance or twice already ; and wha daur say 
that he'll nae get leave to do't again ?'* 



ELIJAH RAISING TO LIFE THE WIDOW^S SON. 105 

ring in God's natural government, but the cause 
of it is in his moral government. It surely needs 
no argument to prove that the moral is superior to 
the natural ; and that it may demand the natural 
to be subservient to it. There can be no question 
of greater importance for us to decide than this. 
Does God indeed speak to man by the teachings 
of inspired prophets ? A man comes to his fellow- 
men claiming their reverence and obedience to his 
words as the teachings of God himself. Is it un- 
reasonable to demand of him that he should give 
some proof of his authority commensurate with 
the dignity of his claims? Would it not be im- 
proper to demand the faith of the world in such 
claims, unless extraordinary proofs — proofs above 
the working of human energy — were also exhibited 
to establish the divine approbation upon these ex- 
traordinary demands? We may justly expect, if 
God sends a prophet, that he will give him good 
proof of his commission — proof properly suited to 
authenticate that commission. This does not im- 
ply that every teacher of truth should also be a 
worker of miracles. If God should give such 
power to every teacher of truth, not only would 
miracles change from extraordinary to ordinary 
credentials, and thus fail of the very purpose for 
which they are given, but the present system of 
God^s moral government must be wholly changed. 
But when God does a thing so rare in its occur- 
rence, and so important in its bearings upon human 



106 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

interests, as to send a messenger to man witli ex- 
traordinary demands upon our faith, that messenger 
may fitly be entrusted with powers to work as none 
could work without the divine approval. We 
can imagine nothing of greater importance than 
the authentication of a commission from God. The 
natural order of things in providence may well be 
made subservient to the gospel, which has purposes 
higher far than nature. A miracle is a reasonable 
proof of divine favour to an extraordinary teacher. 
In revealing his will to man, we may reasonably 
expect that God would teach us plainly some things 
of which we were not wholly ignorant before; 
some things that commend themselves to the 
human understanding by the self-evident light of 
their ov/n excellence ; but also some things which 
we must receive as true by our reliance upon divine 
testimony. Many things are taught in the Bible 
that are known to those wdio have not the Bible ; 
if any man or people should hear the law of the 
ten commandments, not knowing whence it came, 
they might approve and receive it, through an in- 
tuitive recognition of its inherent excellence. But 
take the gospel as a system of salvation to fallen 
man, and its chief peculiarities are a simple revela- 
tion of which man knows only what God reveals ; 
and he is assured of the truth of these teachings 
just so far as he has just reason to believe that 
God speaks. Xot only are the doctrines of the 
Trinity and of the future resurrection teachings 



ELIJAH EAISING TO LIFE THE WIDOW'S SON. 107 

of pure revelation, known to be true only because 
the word of God so declares, but all that Ave are 
taught of the divine character and atoning work 
of the great Redeemer are matters known to us, 
not by reason, but by faith. But these are teach- 
ings whose immense importance we cannot over- 
rate ; and the system of teachings to which they 
belong should, as a system, rest upon foundations 
that cannot be moved. We are not usually ex- 
pected to believe except upon proof; and no exer- 
cise of faith is so important as that which looks to 
God for the pardon of sin and to Christ for an 
eternal salvation. We need proof which only God 
can give that God speaks in these teachers. In- 
stead of miracles being unreasonable, the demand 
for their working is reasonable. The importance 
of these teachings, and the urgent necessity for 
confirming their truth by irrefragable proofs, suffi- 
ciently justifies the working of miracles. And 
this is especially so, because there is no just reason 
against the occurrence of miracles; nor can any 
man point out a single bad consequence that flows 
from man's belief in the miracles of the Scriptures. 
Miracles do not injure the moral character of those 
who believe in them, nor lower their ideas of the 
divine character, nor shake their confidence in the 
invariable connection of cause and effect. Men 
may abuse any teachings to superstitious purposes ; 
but intelligent believers in the sacred volume have 
certainly as much reverence for God and his laws, 



108 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

as much confidence in the usual uniformity of 
nature, as much disposition to demand a reasonable 
ground for all they believe, as have any other men 
in the world. 

These thoughts may aid us in solving another 
inquiry : When may we reasonably look for mir- 
acles? Not at the hands of every teacher of truth; 
not even frequently in the history of the Church ; 
and not through all the ages of her history until 
the end of the world. The miracles spoken of 
in the Scripture do not belong to all the periods 
of the scriptural history. They are not wastefully 
wrought, at unnecessary times, or upon frivolous 
occasions. Many eminent men of the Church were 
not workers of miracles; as Abraham, Joseph, 
David, Jeremiah, Daniel, and John the Baptist 
wrought no miracles. Miracles are extraordinary 
proofs to establish the authority of extraordinary 
prophets. Laying out of view the wonders wrought 
directly by God himself — as the deluge, the destruc- 
tion of Sodom, and the wonders recorded in the 
book of Daniel — and those wrought by especial 
divine direction, the miracles of the Bible belong 
only to three short periods of history, and gather 
especially around the three most remarkable cha- 
racters of the Church. Moses first, next Elijah, 
greatest of all, Christ Jesus, are the three wonder- 
workers t)f the Church of God. Each of these in- 
deed transmits the power, for a time, to his succes- 
sors, for important reasons. Thus these poAvers 



I 



ELIJAH RAISING TO LIFE THE WIDOW'S SON. 109 

are shown to be official rather than personal ; and 
each of these left an unfinished work, to be prose- 
cuted by his successors. It is impossible to desig- 
nate three persons at whose hands we may more 
reasonably look for such evidences of a divine com- 
mission than the chief three who stand forth in the 
Scriptures as workers of miracles. Moses gives to 
mankind the first written revelations of God's 
will; Jesus Christ is the Lord of all the prophets, 
and closes, in himself and his apostles, the great 
volume of truth; and Elijah and his successor 
Elisha stand between them, in a time of great 
apostasy, to vindicate anew the great claims of 
Jehovah against the encroaching idolatry. Not 
confining the working of miracles strictly to 
these three epochs, the general truth may be thus 
expressed : The highest occasion usually calls for 
the miracle ; the man who does these wonders im- 
parts his authority to the great system of truth 
with which he is identified ; and Christ Jesus, as 
the chief of all divine messengers, gives his direct 
approval to all those teachings which before his 
day were already known as the Sacred Scriptures. 
After his days, and the continued proof of divine 
working in his apostles, the entire Bible was given 
to the world as an authoritative document, bearing 
the seal of its divine authority. The great reason 
for miracles no longer exists. God's ministers now 
are not revealers of his will ; they are merely in- 
terpreters of teachings already authenticated. The 



110 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

just occasion for miracles is a part of the just 
vindication of their occurrence. 

But we should not fail to notice that there is a 
marked and striking difference in kind between 
the scriptural miracles and the pretended wonders 
of which so much has been said by erroneous 
teachers. We do not speak chiefly of the evidence 
adduced to prove that miracles are truly wrought. 
The scriptural miracles were openly wrought be- 
fore friends and foes, in matters where the witnesses 
could not be deceived, and their record was made 
public during the life-time of the beholders. Spu- 
rious miracles have none of the just proofs of ex- 
cellence. If wrought at all, wrought in doubtful 
and insignificant things, and before interested per- 
sons, or resting upon records made in later times 
and distant places, they should magnify the proof 
of the true miracle, rather than detract from it. 
But see how the true and the false differ in kind. 
Certain books are extant on the early life of Jesus, 
written, as Dr. Lardner thinks,* by the Gnostics, 
or WTitten or altered in the second century by Leu- 
cius or Lucian, a Manichee. These books relate 
many trifling and unmeaning wonders wrought 
by the boy Jesus — making clay figures and chang- 
ing them into live birds, miraculously correcting 
the mistakes made by Joseph as a carpenter, and 
avenging himself upon his playmates. So the books 
published in our times and in our own land under 
* Larclner's Credib. viii. 530. 



ELIJAH RAISING TO LIFE THE WIDOW'S SON. Ill 

high authority, narrating the miracles attributed to 
the saints in the Romish Churchy follow in the 
same channel. Decapitated heads open their 
mouths to make confession; statues extend their 
arms, or weep, or wink, or nod ; and the sacred 
wafer bleeds w^hen pierced, or, carried off by bees, 
changes into a boy and makes the whole hive adore 
it! There is nothing in such things apposite or 
significant or useful as proofs of divine working. 
"We may judge of these as men judge of counter- 
feit bank-notes. Perhaps we cannot always trace 
them back and show whence they come, or even 
take time to examine a Detector. Upon the prin- 
ciple that every imitator is a bungler, we know 
that a counterfeit rarely equals the execution of a 
genuine bill. We judge by the very appearance. 
Some imitations may be close — of others we can at 
once decide. The most of the miracles of the 
Church of Rome are just what the Bible predicts 
they should be, viz. : lying wonders. They are 
unnatural, inappropriate, and without that re- 
markable significancy that belongs to the miracles 
of the sacred writings. Apart from the question 
1 of historical proofs, the two classes are widely se- 
parated. There is a high moral presumption in 
favour of the miracles of the three great epochs 
of scriptural history. 

We do not believe the great teachings of the 
Church of God without possessing proofs, that in 
tlicir own nature and in the abundant evidences to 



112 THE TRANSLATED PKOPIIET. 

support tliem are entirely worthy of our reliance. 
It is now an unreasonable demand if any one asks 
for miraculous proof that God speaks in the Scrip- 
tures, both because no man now comes to declare 
new things to us, and because God has already 
given the seal of his approval to these ancient re- 
velations. No people ever demands other than 
historical proof of the great events, especially of 
the great documents, of national history. English 
courts never call in question the authenticity of 
Magna Charta; American statesmen admit the 
place of the Declaration of Independence ; the 
Church of God is united in acknowledging the 
authority of every book of the canonical Scriptures; 
and no caviller at the miracles of the word of God 
has ever presumed to attack the evidences upon 
historical deductions. We may say of this revela- 
tion from God that the evidences of its authenti- 
city are so numerous, so associated with other mat- 
ters of unquestioned truth, and so interwoven with 
the history of man, that we must receive them or 
unsettle our confidence in all historical testimony. 
Indeed, as some of the Fathers long since said, the 
Christian Church, established in a scoflSng and op- 
posing world, without the aid of miracles, or pre- 
tending merely to exercise such powers, is more 
wonderful than any miracle. 

Miracles are to be ranked among the evidences 
of revealed religion. To continue or to repeat 
them now would be to confess that those evidences 



ELIJAH RAISING TO LIFE THE WIDOW'S SON. 113 

are insufficient. This confession we refuse to make, 
and the doctrine taught by our Lord Jesus Christ 
is very clear, that the same state of mind which 
now leads any man to desire miracles in order to 
his conversion would make miracles themselves 
useless to that end. Luke xvi. 31. Though mir- 
acles were wrought by Christ, many who witnessed 
them remained still unconverted, and these could 
not deny that the miracles actually occurred. Men 
may know the truth, yet refuse their obedience to 
its legitimate inferences. We see all around us, 
in our own days, that the men who cavil at the 
evidences of religion are not the men who care- 
fully adopt and practice the teachings of the moral 
law, whose excellence they cannot question. They 
show such indifference to truths of recognized im- 
portance that we can easily discern that they do 
not lack evidences, but rather hearts disposed to 
embrace the teachings of divine truth. The men 
who give their careful and interested thoughts to 
the study of the sacred writings themselves, and 
of the proofs of their authority, are little disposed 
to complain that the evidences are meagre or in- 
sufficient. Indeed, God has not only given us all 
things that pertain to life and godliness, but all 
needful proof that he thus speaks to man. 

The practical issue of the Saviour's teaching is 

that the guilt of man's unbelief lies upon himself. 

It is not the place of external evidences to renew 

the sinful heart ; and they who echo the complaint 

8 



114 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

of the lost soul, " If one went unto them from the 
dead, they will repent/^ utterly misconceive the 
design of these wonders and the depraved tendencies 
of the hearts of men. Thousands now have the 
same intellectual conviction of the truth of these 
divine teachings w^hich at most any miracle would 
produce, and yet are they unrepenting. Thous- 
ands have been converted to God, and prepared 
for everlasting life by just such teachings and evi- 
dences as we now possess. Our true wisdom is to 
regard these teachings as indeed a more sure word 
of prophecy. 

And before we take leave of the wonder wrought 
for the widow^s son at Zarephath, touching its pre- 
cious significancy, we w^ould add thus much more: 
that they must read perversely the character of our 
God, and know imperfectly the true spirit of the 
sacred volume, who learn not that here are conso- 
lations intended for all times. We do not mean 
that the exact similitude of the wonder may still be 
looked for, or that modern men of prayer may call 
back the breath to the nostrils of a lifeless child. 
But in all our households we are subject to the 
sudden changes of this humble abode. It had not 
been strange if the wddow of Zarephath had be- 
come elated at her uncommon prosperity. She had 
suddenly been lifted from poverty and despair to 
comparative wealth and to joy unalloyed. She 
had exchanged her last crust for enough for herself 
and her child; she had a prophet for her guest^ and 



ELIJAH RAISING TO LIFE THE WIDOW'S SON. 115 

the evident blessing of God was upon her house- 
hold. But the goodness of our God stoops to visit 
the humble habitation of the widowed and the 
poor as truly now as then ; yet so that a dark and 
unexpected sorrow may stand just next to his mar- 
vellous display of mercy. The life of her son is 
spared from the famine, but death comes in another 
form. 

Even this heavy calamity is not overwhelming. 
Eather, God^s care for the widow is better shown 
through her son's death. And thus it still is. 
Through the prayers of some humble man of God 
wonders have still been wrought in the homes of 
the believing. Prodigal sons, dead to every true 
and kindly feeling, the grief of parental hearts, 
have been quickened to true life and duty. What 
happier words ever broke from parental lips than 
these : " This my son was dead and is alive again ; 
he was lost and is found V^ And from beds of lan- 
guishing beloved ones have been restored, or they 
have departed with hope in their death; or they 
have filled our hearts with sad but salutary memo- 
ries, sanctifying the thoughts and purposes of many 
years. Thus, in the experience of our earthly sor- 
rows, we have often found that divine grace 
wrought unexpected and surpassing good through 
them. Blessings as true, and as truly from the 
hand of God, and as lasting in their stay, have 
come to us as those that are recorded of this widow. 
Lay aside the extraordinary manner in which her 



116 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

blessings were granted, and we need not envy her. 
Our cup has been as full and of as rich blessings. 
This sketch of domestic history may interest us; 
for it is just this, a picture of human life, especially 
of spiritual experience. 

Not seldom parental sin has been brought to re- 
membrance by a sudden stroke upon a beloved 
child; genuine conviction has come through these 
pangs of sorrow; and the loss of her darling^s life 
has been the gain of the mother's soul. A better 
resurrection this, a nobler miracle of grace, than in 
the living boy at Zarephath. 



« 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE JPIOZrS STJEWAItn OF AHAB'S PAZ ACE. 

IN the third year of Elijah's stay in the widow's 
humble abode the word of the Lord bade him 
go and meet Ahab and announce the coming of 
rain. We do not know that there were such tokens 
now of repentance, on the part of sinning Israel, 
as to bring them this relief from their offended 
God. Divine judgments do indeed call a rebellious 
nation to turn from their sins, yet it may often be 
that only a portion of the people may truly humble 
themselves under judgments. So great is the pre- 
valence of prayer that but ten righteous men would 
have sufficed to save the doomed ^^ cities of the 
plain ;'' the cry of Israel in Egypt was prayerfully 
uttered in the ears of their covenant God by per- 
haps only a small portion of the tribes; and now it 
may chiefly have been the cry of seven thousand 
faithful men in Israel which prevailed to save the 
land before its utter desolation. The divine mercy 
toward sinning man seems ever ready to manifest 
its workings. 

"His strokes are fewer than our crimes, 
And lighter than our guilt.'^ 

117 



118 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

Toward the contrite certainly — perhaps often even 
toward others — his judgments speak this language: 
^^ I will not contend for ever, neither will I always 
be wroth ; for the spirit should fail before me, and 
the souls which I have made/^ Isa. Ivii. 16. What 
a sad state of things now in Israel ! The perverse 
rulers hold on their guilty course; the rocks seem 
no harder than those royal hearts. Evidently it is 
not for the sake of Ahab and Jezebel that the rod 
of judgment is to be withheld. It may be that the 
prayers of one good man, to whom we are now to 
be introduced, had much to do with the respite thus 
given to the guilty land. 

We are told afterward that seven thousand men 
were in Israel who had not bowed the knee to the 
image of Baal. Here doubtless is one of them, 
and he lives in almost the last place where we would 
expect to find a spark of piety. Strange as it was, 
when the prophet carried us to Zarephath and 
taught us lessons of profitable faith in a Gentile 
widow, it seems quite as marvellous to find an 
eminent and honoured servant of Jehovah dwelling 
in the very palace of Ahab, holding an office of 
trust in that idolatrous court, and held in high 
esteem by the wicked king himself. But, indeed, 
this is one of the striking characteristics of the 
scriptural writers, that they ever forbid us to make 
true piety subservient to a man^s circumstances. 
They exhibit many examples of true and even 
eminent piety in unlikely persons and under most 



THE PIOUS STEWARD OF AHAB'S PALACE. 119 

unfavourable opportunities, for they would show 
us that the true kingdom of God is in the soul of 
man. Surround an ungodly man with every op- 
portunity to know his duty and every assistance to 
do it, yet with an unchanged heart he remains re- 
bellious against God. But many such a man may 
so conform to the circumstances around him as to 
refrain from much evil, and even to assume the 
external garb of religion. He may do this without 
the direct consciousness that his motives are earthly 
and inferior. In the parable of the Sower our 
Lord describes those wdio " for a while believe, but 
in time of tribulation or persecution fall away.^^ 
True piety is tested by changing times. Let us 
take occasion from the mention of Obadiah to con- 
sider the character here assigned to him. He is 
described as one that feared the Lord greatly. His 
was an eminent piety, all the more grateful for 
the un worthiness of his age in Israel. As a green 
spot in a desert, where a refreshing spring invites 
the thirsty traveller to repose and refreshment, the 
mention of a good man where so many are apos- 
tate from God invites us to consider the traits of 
his godly character. 

Obadiah feared the Lord at a time when his 
people had widely departed from the covenant of 
their fathers. Perhaps his whole life-time — cer- 
tainly the greater part of it — was spent in constant 
contact with the pollutions of idol-worship. The 
piety which cau abide the test of such trials as he 



120 THE TRANSLATED PPtOPIIET. 

possibly encountered must have true worth. A 
vigorous plant will grow, of course, when it has a 
favourable soil and warmth and rains, but its 
vigour is better tried in times less favourable. It 
is to the praise of this man that he remained faith- 
ful when it cost something to be true to his duties. 
We need not understand that he had no fears, no 
misgivings, no temptations to decline from the 
right way. He may have had his hours of dejec- 
tion; he may have been addressed by sore and 
troubled thoughts; he may have felt sometimes 
almost forsaken of his God. These are not rare 
feelings in the experience of good men. Believers 
are not rendered apathetic or stoical by the re- 
newing of the heart to piety. The changes through 
w^hich God's providence allows us to pass must be 
met by us in such a way as to show what manner 
of spirit we are of. Doubtless, Obadiah, living in 
these troublous times of Israel, often cast his 
thoughts w^ishfully toward the marble towers of 
God's temple in distant Jerusalem, and desired the 
prosperity which belonged there. Doubtless, he 
often felt disheartened for the prospects of true 
piety among the ten tribes ; and especially in these 
late disastrous times, when divine judgments deso- 
lated the land. But he felt not like forsaking the 
service of his God. Threatenings may have been 
used toward him — the seducing temptations of 
power and wealth may have attempted to Avin him 
from duty. Envious eyes in the palace of Ahab 



THE PIOUS STEWARD OF AHAB'S PALACE. 121 

may have watched carefully for some pretext that 
might furnish occasion, true or false, to awaken the 
jealousy of Jezebel. Yet we have no reason to 
judge that he swerved from his integrity in these 
difficult times. , 

That those were times of especial danger, and 
that he occupied an exposed position, should make 
us more admire his consistent integrity. To be the 
steward of Ahab's house at a season when such an 
office would be doubly valuable, because the fam- 
ine had made provisions scarce and expensive, 
made it increasingly dangerous for one who did 
not sympathize with the prevailing thoughts of 
that wicked court. It is difficult to believe that 
any one could hold such a place and make no un- 
due compliances ; but he himself appeals to Elijah 
of his innocence, and asks what was his sin that he 
should be delivered into the hand of Ahab. So 
obvious were the difficulties of maintaining such 
an office, and still of keeping a conscience void of 
offence, that we might rather esteem it Obadiah^s 
duty to retire from so exposed a position. And 
yet truly, upon no matters should we form a more 
careful judgment and in full view of all the cir- 
cumstances, than when we would decide the duty, 
for ourselves or others, of changing our engage- 
ments, and of surrendering a position which Prov- 
idence may have assigned. Perhaps there is no 
book which teaches us so plainly, as we are taught 
in the Bible, that God orders our lot in life, and 



122 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

tliat rigliteous men may lawfully abide in almost 
any place, and discharge faithfully the duties that 
belong there, long after their position has been 
made uncomfortable. 

Obadiah usefully held a dangerous and uncom- 
fortable place. He dare not give it up, because 
his people needed him ; he could hold it, for Provi- 
dence is any man^s best guard at the post of duty. 
The steps — and the standing — of a good man are 
ordered by the Lord : he upholdeth him with his 
hand. Obadiah was needed, perhaps, to supply 
Elijah's place, now^ that the prophet is hidden alike 
from friend and foe ; and the steward of Ahab's 
house may have done much, in judicious measures, 
to hold together the seven thousand who refused 
Jezebel's entreaties and threatenings. Only one 
example is furnished us of Obadiah's deeds. In 
this time of persecution he had hidden a hundred 
men of Jehovah's prophets by fifties in caves, and 
supplied them with food. If this was recently, 
and during the famine, it was an act of great libe- 
rality. To feed one hundred men when provisions 
were scarce is no mean charity, though indeed w^e 
have no mention of the length of time through 
Avhich he supplied them. But if not in times of 
scarcity, it was still an act of great daring. For 
the fierce Jezebel sought the lives of these men, and 
she would not have spared the steward of the pal- 
ace had she known that he had vent-ured to resist 
her will. The risk was greater, because he must 



THE PIOUS STEWARD OF AHAB'S PALACE. 123 

have used tlie agency of others to dispense a benefi- 
cence so large as this. He could not personally have 
done this service ; and indeed he addresses Elijah 
upon the subject as though the matter was well 
known, at least to the prophets and to this their 
leader. Had any of the servants of Obadiah be- 
trayed the confidence reposed in them, his faithful- 
ness to God's suffering servants would have given 
occasion to the queen to number him also among 
the victims of her bigotry. 

While this good man owed his safety in the 
house of Ahab to the protection of God's provi- 
dence, this does not imply that we can trace the 
matter no further. Rather, God's providence uses 
appropriate means to secure its wise ends; and 
what more fitting support for such a man in such 
a place than the very virtues which forced the 
respect and the confidence of even Ahab? The 
king of Israel may have needed just such a man 
for such an office; and if he knew fully of Oba- 
diah's faithfulness to his God, he could thereby 
judge that his stewardship toward his king would 
not be dishonest. Let it be a valuable support to 
all our pious principles that they command the 
respect even of an opposing world. Religious men 
may be much reproached and ridiculed and perse- 
cuted, yet a consistent and holy character never is 
despised, and, so long as men have consciences, 
never can be. The men of this wicked world may 
have no taste themselves for pious principles or 



124 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

religious duties; they may despise and laugh at a 
hypocrite; they may revile true piety for faults 
which they know never spring from it; but they 
can usually decide with a true judgment when a 
man deserves a good character; and such a charac- 
ter they always respect. And very certainly no 
other characteristic is at all to be compared with 
hitegrity as the foundation of true influence. 

Several remarkable examples are afforded us in 
the Scriptures where a wise and unswerving up- 
rightness has been the basis of lasting prosperity; 
Avhere servants exhibiting this trait have become so 
valuable to masters^ whose usual views were far 
different from their own, that they have been 
allowed the free exercise of their religious duties 
where less worthy men might have suffered perse- 
cution. Joseph in Egypt, though a friendless and 
youthful stranger, maintained his purity and piety 
amidst an idolatrous people, though gradually ad- 
vanced to the highest offices in the realm. Daniel 
in Babylon was eminent in honours and usefulness 
through a succession of idolatrous kings. So 
Obadiah in Samaria was too faithful in his place to 
allow that Ahab should dismiss him and engage a 
more complaisant, but a less trustworthy, idolater 
in his room. 

In his interview with the prophet, Obadiah shows 
the strength of his faith in his ready belief of 
Elijah's word. At first, indeed, he is startled that 
Elijah spoke of appearing before Ahab. He knew 



THE PIOUS STEWARD OT AHAB'S PALACE. 125 

the king's cruelty — how much especially he was 
incensed against this prophet, and how carefully he 
had sought for him in his own kingdom and in 
neighbouring realms. And now he is afraid that 
as Elijah has been so long concealed from the king, 
so he might again be caught away while he was bear- 
ing the tidings to Ahab. In this case the king would 
hold him responsible, and thus his life would be 
put in jeopardy. Nor should we judge that Obadiah 
speaks timidly or selfishly in these words. He had 
already staked his life when a proper occasion had 
authorized him to risk it; but his welfare was too 
important to suffering Israel to allow him to put 
his safety in needless peril. Or indeed he may 
have shrunk now for Elijah's sake also, knowing 
that Ahab lacked not the will to do him injury. 

But upon the solemn assurance of Elijah that he 
did truly design to stand before Ahab, Obadiah 
makes no further objection. Perhaps he recalled a 
scene that not so long before had happened to a 
predecessor of Ahab, who had ventured to put forth 
his hand against a prophet, and was glad to ask his 
help to restore the withered arm which he could 
not draw back to him. 1 Kings xiii. He well 
knew, from his own experience, that they are safe 
who go upon the Lord's errands; and he was well 
aware also that Elijah held an extraordinary com- 
mission, against which earthly potentates might 
rage in vain. In prompt obedience, therefore, to 
the prophet's bidding, Obadiah sought Ahab and 



126 THE TRANSBATED PROPHET. 

informed him that he had found Elijah. Doubtless 
he was a witness also of the important interview 
that followed. He heard the king using words 
whieh he may possibly have often used to himself 
in self-vindication and to throw the blame of 
Israel's calamities upon the prophet, as if indeed 
he was the true troubler of Israel. Yet how boldly 
does the prophet answer back! and how easily does 
he compel the conscience of Ahab to testify that his 
charges are true ! The true troubler is not he who 
brings grief, but he who brings guilt upon any 
land or upon any soul. This truth is so obvious 
that Ahab is silenced, as the voice of God will one 
day silence many a vain cavil from the lips of un- 
godly men. Men throw the blame where it does 
not belong; but the true prophet tells the trans- 
gressor, '' Thou art the troubler.^^ 

Perhaps when Elijah proposed that the prophets 
of falsehood should meet him in public controversy 
upon Mount Carmel and try where the right lay, 
Obadiah was of great assistance in gathering the 
people; through his agency a large representation 
may have been secured, including not a few of 
those who had remained faithful to Jehovah; and 
these may have been of essential service when the 
decision was against the prophets of Baal, and 
wdien Elijah executed upon them the stern sentence 
of death, according to the Mosaic statutes that 
were still binding in Israel. 

It attracts our interest toward him to be told 



THE PIOUS STEWARD OF AHAB'S PALACE. 127 

that Obadiali feared the Lord from his youth. We 
do not know his age in the day when he went 
forth with Ahab to find water for their dying 
herds. If now he was a man far advanced in 
years, he may have passed his childhood in those 
better times of his people, when King Solomon 
ruled all the tribes, and when the offerings of a 
united land were laid upon the altars of Jerusalem. 
Yet it is more likely that only his parents could 
remember these happier times ; and it may be that 
gathering iniquities about them made them more 
careful to train their family in the principles of the 
ancient faith. They who make apologies from the 
prevailing evils of their age, and thus neglect their 
own pressing and important duties, will find any 
times bad enough to furnish them with an excuse 
for their unfaithfulness; while parents who have any 
just appreciation of their responsibilities will be 
only the more careful and diligent in their labours, 
because special dangers gather about their children 
^nd special hindrances make their duties more 
difficult. Can we name any more important duty 
of social life than that which rests upon parents for 
the training of their children? Can we imagine 
any wiser scheme than that which God has devised 
to commit these great interests to a well-regulated 
family? Alas, we know scarcely any duty of man 
that falls under more common and lamentable ne- 
glect. 

It is a privilege unspeakable when a human 



128 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

being is taught from his earliest years the doctrines 
and duties of piety. Not in vain do the Scrip- 
tures give us repeated assurances and exhortations 
on this matter. A child left to himself brings his 
mother to sliame — a child trained in the way in 
which he should go will not depart from it when he 
is older. If there is — as there is — a natural aver- 
sion of the heart to the teachings of piety, so much 
the more earnest, especially so much the more 
prayerful, should be the efforts early made in 
favour of pious thoughts and habits. If some- 
times the mistake is made of looking for too much 
from a child, yet it is a more common and a more 
disastrous mistake to look for too little. Let a 
child be still a child, in religion as elsewhere; just 
as apt, as impulsive, as mature, as consistent, in one 
direction as another. Every child is a bundle of 
inconsistencies ; one moment full of grief, and the 
next forgetting it in the glee of a new enjoyment ; 
one moment uttering some profound remark, whose 
wisdom and penetration seem far beyond his years; 
and at the next saying some trifle that nobody 
cares to remember ; delighted now with some new 
toy or some new friend, yet readily giving these up 
for anything novel that presents itself. This is 
childhood in every generation : we neither wonder 
nor blame, nor indeed, upon the whole, wish it 
otherwise in this season of forming thought. 

^^When I was a child, I spake as a child, I 
thought as a child, I understood as a child," said 



THE PIOUS STEWARD OF AHAB'S PALACE. 129 

one who afterward thought as a maii^ if anybody 
ever did. When a child can reason upon any 
subject, he can have religious thoughts ; when he 
can obey his parents, he can give obedience also 
to divine lavv^s; when he can intelligently love 
earthly friends, he can love God ; yet in everything 
w^e may expect the immature understanding, the 
changeable feelings, the half-done duties of child- 
hood. The great encouragements are, that a child's 
faith may be saving faith ; a child's love to Christ, 
true love; and a child's imperfect obedience, the 
first steps in the pathway of more complete service. 
Let experience judge of the value of early training. 
There is a happy preservation from evil for those 
whose youthful years are passed under pious in- 
fluences ; there is a maturity of instruction in those 
long trained in Christian nurture; there is a vigour 
in settled habits, which makes it easy for those who 
are thus educated to go forward in ways of right- 
eousness: usually those who have done most to 
form a worthy character and to exert a righteous 
influence, owe most to the excellence of their early 
training. 

^^ Suffer me," said the venerable Dr. AVither- 
spoon, "earnestly to recommend to all that fear 
God, to apply themselves from their earliest youth 
to the exercises of piety, a life of prayer and com- 
munion with God. This is the source from which 
a real Christian must derive the secret comfort of 
his heart, and which alone will give beauty, con- 



130 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

sistency and uniformity to an exemplary life 

Youth, when the spirits are lively and the affections 
vigorous and strong, is the season when this habit'^ 
[and indeed every other habit] ^'may best be 
formed. There are advantages and disadvantages 
attending every stage of life. An aged Christian 
will naturally grow in prudence, vigilance, useful- 
ness, attention to the course of Providence, and 
subjection to the divine will ; but will seldom at- 
tain to greater fervour of affection and life in 
divine worship than he had been accustomed to in 
his early years.^^"^ We doubt not conversions to 
piety may take place in later years ; but they who 
earliest learn the fear of God will most consistently 
maintain the duties of religion, be most ardently 
attached to them, and awaken the fewest reproaches 
from an opposing world. Youth is the season for 
religious training, and those who have not enjoyed 
opportunities for religious education go forth to 
life's duties under serious disadvantages. For 
when youth are best trained it is an important 
season which sees them go forth to temptations 
where many fail ; and multitudes crowd the down- 
ward way, because few human duties are more 
lamentably neglected than those w^hich relate to 
the young. The parents of Obadiah may have 
been among the few that were faithful in Israel 
when so Ions; a series of kino-s followed the ex- 
ample of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. It is a sad 
^ Witlierspoon's Works, iii. 103. 



II 



THE PIOUS STEWARD OF AHAB'S PALACE. 131 

thing to live in times of growing degeneracy ; yet 
in the decline of morals among any people, by all 
means let families be only the more careful to train 
up their children in the fear of the Lord. 

Let Obadiah teach us how false and vain are the 
excuses so often made by sinful men to satisfy 
themselves for their neglect of religion. How 
many, claim that in different circumstances they 
would surely serve God ! Yet piety may belong 
anywhere, and depends but little upon a man's ex- 
ternal circumstances. It depends not upon his 
years, for a child may be pious ; not upon the times 
in which he lives, for even in troublous times may 
men give God acceptable service; not upon his 
companions, for he may resist their influence rather 
than yield to it; not upon riches, or poverty, or 
health. Obadiah served God in Ahab's palace — 
Paul as Nero's prisoner. Men are fruitful in 
in making excuses, but they would wish to make 
none if their hearts were right. How a cheerful, 
heart finds the shallowness of every excuse, or 
turns the difficulty and hindrance into an incentive 
or even a help ! And when we see how faithful 
many have, been in circumstances far more trying 
than any we have ever known, we should be both 
encouraged and ashamed. How easily might we 
serve God as compared with Obadiah, and yet how 
languid our zeal seems beside his! We may have 
our trials, but how feeble are they beside his ! And 
our knowledge of duty, and our motives to a 



132 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

zealous service, are far in advance of the privileges 
that belonged to that age. 

Happy are they who earliest begin and most 
consistently maintain the fear of God. Many 
encouragements of the Divine Word assure us that 
we cannot too soon enter upon the duties that grow 
but the more excellent and important as life itself 
advances. In those who neglect the instructions 
and habits of piety there is the growing likelihood 
that these better things will be crowded out by the 
increasing cares of gathering years. The man who 
has reached the middle age of life, and has, as yet, 
given no proper attention to the great interests of 
life eternal, has lost too much time already, and 
cannot afiford, through neglect or worse reasons, to 
lose still more. 

Is any character more truly desirable for any 
man, now or hereafter, in life or at the dying hour, 
as judged by man or as judged at God^s righteous 
bar, than that here ascribed to the steward of 
Ahab's house? Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, 
and this too from his youth. Is it likely that he 
would ever have heartily espoused the cause of 
God's suffering and persecuted saints if his per- 
sonal choice of piety had been delayed in his early 
years, and if this great concern had been still un- 
settled when he was elevated to the stewardship in 
the palace of such a king? They who neglect 
religion while they still are young give tone to their 
characters usually for life^ throw off from them 



THE PIOUS STEWARD OF AHAB'S PALACE. 133 

the better natures of duty, and gather around them 
the worse promptings of impulse, interest and ex- 
pediency to determine how they shall hereafter act, 
and both offend God and destroy themselves 
through a folly that is often inconsiderate, yet 
always dangerous and guilty. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE THUE TnOJJBLEB, OF ISMAEL, 

ELIJAH did not fear to stand before Ahab 
when commanded so to do by the word of the - 
Lord. Indeed he gains a victory at the very outset 
by sending word to the king where he might be 
found, thus compelling the monarch to wait upon 
him, rather than appearing himself as a subject 
before his lord. And the first words that pass 
between them serve to keep in the prophet's hands 
the advantage, which he still maintains till the con- 
troversy closes. Doubtless, as Ahab journeyed 
through the land, he saw lamentable proofs on 
every hand of the desolation wrought by the 
drought; Israel was in calamity; and when he met 
Elijah he denounced him as the great author of all 
these wastes — the troubler of Israel! We need 
not be surprised at these words on the lips of the 
king. We commonly find, when men are arrayed 
in parties against each other, that each side vindi- 
cates itself, and uses harsh epithets and makes 
harsh charges against the other. The purest mo- 
tives and the most careful diligence of men who 
are in the right cannot relieve them from the re- 

134 



THE TRUE TROUBLER OF ISRAEL. 135 

proach ever cast upon them of being the troublers 
of the public peace. It must be admitted that 
much of human infirmity and folly, and even wrong, 
often mingles with the efforts of men who, in the 
main, are right in aim and effort in human contro- 
versies; and so there is some appearance of plausi- 
bility in charging wrong upon those who yet are in 
the right. But the prophet here teaches us the 
just criterion of judgment. Let a controversy be 
never so fierce and deadly, no blame should be 
attached to those w^ho maintain the right; so the 
whole aim of every true man should be to ascertain 
w^here the right lies, and this he should support, no 
matter whether he is called to aggressive or to 
defensive efforts; no matter how fierce may be the 
storm which his faithfulness may gather around 
him. 

There is a sense in which righteous men may be 
subject to the charge of being troublers. The 
thunder-storm is a troubler of the atmosphere, 
yet it comes not till its power is needed to drive 
away the gathering impurities of the air, and its 
effects are beneficial. Truth may be a troubler, but 
only when error has so firm a hold upon men^s 
minds that only a powerful struggle can displace it. 
Right may be a troubler when WTong holds the 
dearest privileges prostrate with iron grasp, and 
earnest wrestlings only can release them. Life 
itself is a ceaseless agitation, compared with which 
the reign of death is one of quiet and rest. Tlie 



136 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

troubles of the world are often the best signs of 
the world's life. Society would be more stagnant 
and pestilential than a Dead Sea without the agita- 
tions that are needed to purify and to invigorate 
it. If oppression must be submitted to lest we 
may awaken strife by resisting it ; if error must be 
allowed to prevail lest we should kindle contro- 
versy in our attempts to refute it; if God's worship 
may be displaced by the profane rites of Baal, and 
no prophet may dare to raise any disturbance by 
lifting up his voice against such evils, — then may 
the world do without these troublers of the world's 
peace. 

If Ahab's charge is just, then in all the annals of 
our race the true benefactors of men have been the 
troublers of the world's peace. The same cry w^as 
raised in heathen lands ao^ainst the lio!;ht-bearers 
of the gospel, who came in the name of God to 
disperse the gloom that for ages had covered the 
nations. "These that have turned the world 
upside down have come thither also." Acts xvii. 6. 
All reformations among men have been the up- 
rising of righteous principles against old and 
strong tyrannies ; and the severity and long-con- 
tinuance of such struggles are the best proof of 
their necessity. Indeed there is a sense in which 
every minister of Christ, just in proportion to the 
success of his ministry, is a trouble among men ; 
and our Lord does not hesitate to avow this effect 
of his ministry : " Think not that I am come to 



THE TRUE TROUBLER OF ISRAEL. 137 

send peace on the earth ; I am not come to send 
peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man 
at variance against his father and the daughter 
against her mother, .... and a man's foes shall 
be they of his own household.'^ Matt. x. 34-36. 
The gospel comes to men at enmity with God, and 
it fails of its mission when it leaves them at peace 
in their sins. It calls the guilty soul of man to 
stand face to face with that Holy One whom man 
has offended. So the confession of the aw^aked one 
is, "I remembered God and was troubled/' Ps. 
Ixxvii. 3. Agitation — profound agitation — of the 
single soul — or of a community — or of a nation — 
may not be evil. It may be needful, wholesome 
in tendency, beneficial in result. 

But Elijah may lead us to the proper understand- 
ing of the charge which Ahab makes against him, 
and may vindicate their fame who are not prop- 
erly, but reproachfully, termed the troublers of the 
public peace. He refuses to bear this reproachful 
name, but casts it back to the king himself, to whom 
of right it belonged. He gives us this simple 
principle to apply to the explanation of all these 
earthly agitations : that when troubles arise in the 
contending of any principles or any parties, the 
true responsibility lies upon the party that is in 
the wrong. If both parties in any strife are meas- 
urably wrong — and this may often be the case 
through human passions and human infirmities — 
then both may deserve censure; and even a right- 



138 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

eous cause may thus come under partial reproach 
and may receive injury. Yet the just cause should 
ever meet our support, even though stern efforts 
are needful to maintain it. If the oppressed and 
the oppressor, the injured aiid the injurer, error 
and truth, wrong and right come into conflict, the 
mere question, '' Which began this strife V^ is of no 
manner of importance. The wrong only deserves 
the censure. The oppressor, error and wrong are 
always the true troublers of society. When ampu- 
tation is necessary, we cannot blame the surgeon 
for the pain he must needs inflict; we might rather 
blame him if he lacks decision to do what ought to 
be done. If Elijah, instead of withstanding Ahab, 
had joined himself to the prophets of Baal, and 
had thus fallen in with his scheme, or even had 
he neglected to oppose them, he would have de- 
served the name now improperly applied by the 
king — a troubler of Israel. 

The true troubler of the land is not he who 
brought Israel to grief, but he who brought Israel 
to guilt. Elijah boldly retorts the charge, and 
such is the power of truth that the convicted tyrant 
quails beneath his words. Himself and his 
v/icked schemes had brought these calamities on tho 
land, and long before this would the conflict have 
ended if Ahab had yielded under the Lord's 
chastisement. Take away the altars of Baal, and 
the statutes that legalized them in the kingdom, 
and the heavens would o;ive rain and the earth 



J 



THE TEUE TROUBLER OF ISRAEL. 139 

would yield her increase. And Ahab knew his 
guilt and stood abashed before the upright and in- 
trepid prophet. 

To bring the whole matter to a public issue, 
Elijah, doubtless by divine impulse, makes a def- 
inite proposal. He asks that a solemn convocation 
of the tribes of Israel should be gathered at Mount 
Carmel, that the false priests who filled the land 
should be required to be present, and that the 
question should be publicly settled by actual ex- 
periment whether he or these prophets could give 
indisputable proof of a divine commission. The 
proposition may have come before the mind of 
Ahab in a form of such authority that he dared 
not use even his place as king to venture its rejec- 
tion. Upon the part of Elijah it was a bold prop- 
osition, which required far more than the conscious- 
ness that truth and right were on his side to justify 
its offer. TJie prophet knew that the great and 
singular prerogative of working miraculously, 
granted to so few even of God^s eminent servants, 
vested in his office. We vindicate the propriety 
of miracles at the hands of Elijah, in the evident 
certainty that this greatest day of his ministry 
must have been a failure but for the fire from 
heaven ; we may far more easily disbelieve that 
there never was an Elijah than question the chief 
success of that notable day ; but for this singular 
prerogative, that had been a day of presumption, 
not of faith. Except in the right, Elijah was 



140 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

the weaker party, and the right that day without 
the power must have met disaster. He stood 
alone in the public controversy. For not as yet 
had he been assured that seven thousand men in 
Israel were secret worshippers of Jehovah. He 
stood against the royal authority of the land, and 
a royal edict had long since set a price upon his 
head. Besides, the suffering thousands all through 
the tribes well knew that at Elijah^s word the rains 
of heaven had been so long withheld ; and as they 
left their desolate houses and their starving chil- 
dren to meet this dreaded prophet, we may well 
suppose that many a dark brow would frown upon 
him, and that many a desperate heart would enter- 
tain thoughts of violent revenge. Reason and 
justice are not usually the governing motives when 
suffering has driven men almost mad. Yet indeed 
God often so arranges the plans of his providence 
that wicked men are restrained by motives which 
address their self-interest. What had any man in 
Israel to gain from slaying this prophet? This 
mad act would but perpetuate the curse upon the 
land. For the rain was to come at his word. 
Elijah is safe, not only as he goes upon the Lord's 
errand, but also because his changed prayers were 
needful for Israel's relief. 

Some days may perhaps have passed before the 
assembly was convened at Carmel. Word must be 
sent through the land, the people must have time 
to gather; national conventions cannot be assembled 



i 



THE TRUE TROUBLER OF ISRAEL. 141 

without some preparation. And there is some 
proof that Jezebel was opposed to the whole thing. 
During the brief needful delay she exerted all her 
influence against the proposed '^ mass meeting/' and 
it seems already a victory for Elijah that her oppo- 
sition could not stay the assembling of the people, 
nor even prevent the king^s presence. Yet it is a 
significant fact that her prophets were not there. 
Though she worshipped Baal^ yet her special divin- 
ity was a female, and Jezebel maintained at her 
own expense four hundred prophets of the groves, 
i. e., of the goddess Astarte. She may have made 
the excuse that Elijah's proposition was not fair 
for them. They were not the prophets of the sun 
and of the day, but of the moon and of the night ; 
and the challenge to answer by fire is less appro- 
priate to their professions. Doubtless, had they 
been there, Elijah would have offered some other 
test, equally fair for them as for the priests of Baal — 
would have shown that his God ruled equally the 
light and the darkness; and after using the day 
for the defeat and destruction of BaaFs prophets, 
would have consecrated the night to the destruction 
of Astarte's. But Jezebel was crafty as well as 
cruel. She dared not venture the trial, and she 
refused to send her favourites. Yet, perhaps, she 
thus only postponed for a longer period the irre- 
pressible, inevitable issue, and prepared the way 
for the subsequent defeat of Israel and the death 
of Ahab. These four hundred men may have 



142 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

been the same false prophets who brought od, three 
years later, the battle of Ramoth-gilead, where 
Ahab was killed. 1 Kings xxii. 6, 37, Thus these 
prophets were spared to the injury of those who 
protected them, as men, in their folly and blindness, 
often cherish the sins w^hich in the end prove their 
destruction. 

This great assemblage of the people of Israel is 
one of the most important occasions of their nat- 
ional history. Few conventions have ever met 
whose purpose could at all be compared with the 
object here purposed, to decide who was the true 
God of Israel. The place of meeting was Mount 
Carmel. This is the name of a range of hills on 
the borders of the Mediterranean sea. Some sup- 
pose that this great meeting took place near a bold 
promontory jutting out into the sea; others think 
that Elijah named for the place of meeting a well- 
known spot, where long before an altar had been 
erected to Jehovah, and where therefore the people 
had been wont to meet. The narrative makes ex- 
press mention of a fallen altar of Jehovah, which 
Elijah restored before he offered his sacrifice upon 
it. It is well worthy of our mention that Tacitus, 
the Roman historian, speaks explicitly of this 
ancient place of w^orship, and says that Vespasian 
offered sacrifices there : " Between Judea and Syria 
is Carmel ; so they call the mountain and the god ; 
and the ancients declare that no image nor temple 
is placed there to the god, only an altar and wor- 



THE TRUE TROUBLER OF ISRAEL. 143 

ship/'* And Suetoniusf also declares that Vespa- 
sian in Judea consulted the oracle at Carmel. This 
shows that long after these scenes the place Avas 
famous ; but the existence of the altar there shows 
that its fame was more ancient than the days of 
this prophet. Before the temple was built at Je- 
rusalem, the people of the twelve tribes often 
erected altars to Jehovah, and the practice was 
tolerated, if not fully approved, even afterward. 

The place of meeting was perhaps " on the 
south-eastern end of Carmel, looking off toward 
Jezreel.'^ This was in a conspicuous portion of a 
densely-settled region, and the spot is reverenced 
to this day by the discordant sects around it as 
the site of the miracles of Elijah.J Mount Carmel 
itself is celebrated in the Scriptures for its great 
beauty and fertility, and the plain of Jezreel is no 
less remarkable. But as the thousands of Israel 
gathered upon this grand occasion, the barren sides 
of Carmel, and the desolate landscape that spread 
wide before every eye, were appalling proofs that 
the nation needed the remedial measures that day 
to be employed in Israel. The sides of even fruit- 
iful Carmel were dry and barren, and the grass was 
withered and the fields untilled, and the flocks were 
few upon the great plain of Esdraelon ; and the 
men who gathered there at the call of the Lord's 

* Tacitus, Hist., ii. 78. 

f Suetonius, Vit. Vespasian, x. ch. 5. 

X Land and Book, ii. 223 sec. 



144 THE TRAXSLATED PROPHET. 

prophet had every mark of wretchedness and des- 
titution from the long-prevailing curse. 

Elijah stood in a position never before occupied 
by any servant of Jehovah. Moses had brought 
desolation upon Egypt, Joshua had wrought the 
overthrow of the Canaanites, Samuel had pro- 
nounced the doom of Amalek; it remained for 
Elijah to show God^s abhorrence of iniquity in 
his people, and to declare this heavy curse against 
Israel. And now the prophet stood alone : spread 
out before him, as fai' as the eye could reach, were 
the effects of the woe which his lips had uttered ; 
gathered close around him were the squalid and 
exasperated crowds of Israel's degenerate sons. 
On these very things might be read the seal of his 
divine commission; the conscience of everj' man 
there felt an irrepressible awe before him, and every 
one could anticipate the issue of the controversy 
before a word was spoken. 

Men may not ordinarily expect that the most 
high God should decide by signs from heaven the 
truth or falsehood of the clashing claims of various 
religious teachings. Presumptuous demands have 
again and again been made by thoughtless and 
wicked men that he should do so; and strange in- 
consistencies have belonged to those who have made 
those demands; as in the well-known case of an 
English infidel, who wrote a volume against all 
divine communications to man, and declares in the 
preface that by a remarkable sign from heaven he 



THE TRUE TROUBLER OF ISRAEL. 145 

was directed to publish it! It is not because the 
great matter at issue is not of sufficient importance 
to justify the most wonderful divine interpositions. 
For nothing is of greater importance to man than 
that he should be able to decide upon divine teach- 
ings. But God now affords no miraculous decisions 
in favour of men who are too indifferent to examine 
seriously the proofs already offered; for their 
neglect of what they have shows that they would 
use no better any other teachings. As for those 
who are willing seriously to inquire the will of 
God^ he has not left himself without witness. He 
has decided the matter often enough, in ways which 
only he could use, and has given proof enough of 
this to every humble inquirer. Upon this extra- 
ordinary occasion, in the most public manner, 
Elijah proposed a test which should declare before 
all Israel that Jehovah alone was God. 

He proposed that he, on the one side, and the 
priests of Baal, on the other, should each offer a 
sacrifice, but without fire, and let the God to whom 
the sacrifices were respectively offered kindle him- 
self the fire u])on the altar, in token of his exist- 
ence and of his acceptance of the worship thus 
addressed to him. The people esteemed the pro- 
posal as entirely fair, and the priests of Baal could 
make no just objection to it. The controversy 
turned upon this question: Is the burning sun a 
god or a creature? If he is a creature, no w^onder 
that, fixr more obedient than rational man in Israel, 

10 



146 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

he should, through this long drought, avenge the 
insult offered to his Creator and burn up the fields 
of an idolatrous people. If he is a god, let him 
smile upon his worshippers, and looking down 
from that cloudless sky, let him kindle the fire 
upon his own altar. And as the test was fair, so 
Elijah gave them a fair opportunity to do all they 
could. They were allowed to begin in the morn- 
ing and to use the hottest part of the day, in the 
vain effort to bring fire from his burning orb. It 
may be they trusted to some trick by which they 
hoped to secure a seeming wonder; but the scene 
had too many spectators to allow any deception, or 
the prophet used such precautions as defeated their 
attempts at imposture. So all their measures were 
adopted in vain. They made all their preparations; 
they began their invocatory dances; they cried aloud 
upon Baal. As hour after hour passed away and 
no reply was secured, they became frantic with pas- 
sion, invoked Baal more vehemently and cut them- 
selves, after the heathen manner, with cruel gashes. 
It may be that this long and vain effort became 
wearisome to the spectators, but it silenced every 
cavil that could be uttered. They had every oppor- . 
tunity for success and had failed. Toward midday 
Elijah mocked them. Ridicule is not always a 
proper test of truth ; the most sacred things can 
be made to appear in a ludicrous light, and many 
a scheme of wickedness is promoted by raising a 
laugh at better things. Yet some things are too 



THE TRUE TROUBLER OF ISRAEL. 147 

absurd to demand serious reasoning ; and but for 
the serious consequences involved in it, and for the 
hold it has upon immortal minds, idolatry in all 
its forms seems too absurd for argument. Elijah 
expected not to win these prophets of Baal to the 
true faith, but he would put to shame their false 
pretensions for the sake of the assembled thous- 
ands. Why made they all this ado if theirs was 
truly a God and worthy of worship in Israel ? 

^^ There was no voice nor any that answered.^^ 
Yet just then their god had the greatest power; the 
people, oppressed by his heat, had full proof that 
the sun was wide awake, and Elijah tauntingly 
asked if their inattentive god was not asleep? If 
ever irony has a place on the lips of serious men, 
we may look for it here. When the glowing, silent 
sun looks down upon these chattering, frantic 
priests of Baal, when he halts at the zenith, when 
his rays are hottest, and yet the altar stands lifeless 
and unanswering, every word of the prophet tells. 
Cry aloud: he is a god, yet he must be deaf! Send 
up your boisterous petitions. Perhaps he has other 
engagements! He is busy with some one else; he 
is hunting; he is pursuing his foes; he is asleep 
and you must make noise enough to waken him. 
It is remarkable, on the one hand, that heathen 
writers speak of their gods just as Elijah does. 
Homer declares that Jupiter went on a journey of 
twelve days, and Lucian ridicules the idea of the 
gods sleeping. And^ on the other hand, it is inter- 



148 THE TRANSLATED PHOPHET. 

esting to know that ironical exposures of such folly 
have repeatedly revealed their delusions to many 
idolaters. How can gods that see not^ nor hear, 
nor know, hear or help their worshippers? If 
Elijah's ridicule had no good effect upon the priests 
of Baal, yet it may have put to shame some of the 
degenerate Israelites not so hardened as they. 

Xow, indeed, this whole controversy upon Car- 
mel was one w^hich should have been easily settled 
in the minds of those who were congregated that 
day from the tribes of Israel. There was trouble 
in the land, everybody knew; and the question, 
who was the true troubler, was one which ought to 
be easily settled. But then, as it commonly happens 
in the agitations of human society, the charge was 
brought where the blame did not belong. Had 
every man there served the true God as faithfully 
as Elijah had done, the rains of heaven would not 
have been withheld. Possibly, indeed, if Elijah 
had been silent as a prophet, he might have escaped 
the charges now laid against him. But this would 
have involved him in the guilt of the people. 
Those who stand up for truth and righteousness 
are not to be held responsible, before God or man, 
for the griefs which spring up incidentally from 
their faithfulness to their duty. It will doubtless 
be so that the faithful but disregarded preaching 
of the gospel in the ears of sinful men will prove 
their aggravated condemnation; yet this should be 
of no influence to deter ministers from preaching 



THE TRUE TROUBLEB OF ISRAEL. 149 

the truth faithfully. To shrink from this duty, 
because men may refuse to believe, is but to put 
their own souls in jeopardy. If the watchman sees 
the sword come .... and gives warning, and 
men care not to heed the warning, they perish in 
their iniquity; but as to the watchman, he delivers 
his soul. 

It ought to have been a very easy thing in 
Israel to decide which was the true god, Jehovah 
or Baal. Perhaps there were many there that day 
who knew well enough where the truth lay and 
what their duty was. But, deterred by fear of 
Jezebel, or won by the gains of some paltry service 
at the queen^s appointment, or choosing the licen- 
tiousness of wrong before the restraints of right, 
they kept up that rebellion which had brought 
such ruin upon the land. It takes more than the 
half conviction — more than the full conviction — of 
the understanding to lead men to do their duty. 
Before we censure too much the folly and guilt of 
Israel in Elijah's days, let us ponder the estate of 
a people far nearer our own times and nearer home 
than they. Have we any difficulty in deciding 
that this world is as little worth making a god of 
as the shining orb that rolls above us? What is 
our god? Is it honour, or fame, or wealth, or 
ease? Can it hear when we cry? Can it help 
when we are needy? Can it deliver when we are 
in danger? Do we ourselves, in our own con- 
sciences, approve of our own standing in the most 



150 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

important of all interests ? Yet no sword of per- 
secution compels our departure from the true God. 
We are more guilty than Israel, if God is not our 
God and his service our delight. 



1 



CHAPTER IX. 

TSB DECISION OF TME GHEAT QUESTION. 

ELIJAH aflPorded the priests of Baal every op- 
portunity they couM demand to draw down 
the fire of heaven upon their altar. But evidently 
in the sight of all Israel their service was a failure. 
They could not meet the proposed test. The true 
prophet makes preparation for his share in the 
day's proceedings. He might have assumed their 
altar as his, and have kindled the fire where they 
could not. But both altar and sacrifices were 
polluted by their consecration to a false god, and 
must not be used in Jehovah's service. And, as 
before remarked, there seems to have been upon 
Carmel an ancient altar of Jehovah ; and in a spot 
already consecrated to him Elijah would recall the 
tribes to the worship of their covenant God. 
There was a silent rebuke in the very act of re- 
pairing a broken altar of Jehovah, and another 
reproof, quite as significant, in taking tivelve stones 
with which to repair it. Elijah thus intimates that 
they had forsaken the true God, and that at least 
in religious matters the twelve tribes should still 
be one. After making a ditch around the altar, 

151 



152 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

and arranging the wood, he again brings the num- 
ber twelve to their attention by causing that many- 
barrels of water to be poured upon the altar. This 
thoroughly wet the whole — altar, wood and sacri- 
fice — and filled the trench ; and thus in the entire 
proceedings all just reason for suspecting that the 
fire was kindled by trick or natural means was 
more than avoided. We know not whence he 
obtained the water. In Elijah's faith that now 
the drought was nearly over, it may have been 
water fit for drinking, and brought upon the ground 
for the use of the assembled multitudes ; or it may 
have been water from the marshes at the foot of 
the mountain ; or the Mediterranean Sea, which 
dashes against Carmel on the western side, may 
have supplied what he wished. 

We may mark here a great difference, even in 
the manner of worship, between Elijah and the 
priests of Baal. The false worshippers are full of 
noise and rant, and furious efforts to awaken ex- 
citement ; the true worshipper reverently bows 
before God in humble, serious, devout prayerful- 
uess. He makes a simple appeal to Jehovah that 
he had done all these things by divine direction, 
and that he sought only the divine glory. We 
suppose his words could not be heard very far over 
an assembly so large as that; but his venerable 
form could be seen, his posture of prayer could be 
understood, and all knew that the decisive moment 
had come for which they had gathered to Carmel. 



I 



THE DECISION OF THE GREAT QUESTION. 153 

And what awe fell upon that crowd of apostate Is- 
raelites as they saw the tokens of his presence — the 
God of Abraham and Moses ! The fire of Jehovah 
fell like a fierce flashing from the sky^ and not 
only consumed the sacrifice, but, as it blazed and 
crackled upon the altar, it rent the very stones 
and licked up the water in the trench. This sight 
was more than impressive. It was terrible and 
awe-inspiring. With one impulse the people fell 
upon their faces, and the echoes of Carmel were 
awakened by their united shout : '' The Lord, he is 
God ! the Lord, he is God V' 

If there were any irregularities in the offering 
of this sacrifice, yet the prophet is fully vindicated 
by this triumphant result. Elijah may or may not 
have been of the tribe of Levi, and authorized to 
offer sacrifices ; offerings by others than the priests, 
and in other places than Jerusalem, not without 
their precedents, may have been irregular, yet the 
fire on the altar is proof of divine acceptance. 
Thus we may believe God marked his acceptance 
of Abel before Cain ; thus he gave token of his 
presence to Moses when he dedicated the tabernacle 
in the desert, Lev. ix. 24 ; thus also to Solomon 
at the dedication of the temple, 2 Chron. vii. 1. In 
later times we need no better proof of God's pres- 
ence in his sanctuary than the gift of his Holy 
Spirit, like a baptism of fire, to awaken and renew 
the souls of men, and to kindle a true and holy 
devotion upon the altar of consecrated hearts. 



154 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

This scene of worship ended, the authority of 
the prophet is exerted for the destruction of these 
idolatrous priests. He commanded the people to 
take the four hundred prophets of Baal — the true 
troublers of Israel — and leading them to the brook 
Kishon, at the foot of the mountain, to put them 
all to death. This was in strict accordance with 
the genius of the Mosaic dispensation, and with 
the letter of the laws then existing among the Is- 
raelites. We do not need to question the justice of 
their doom. They had brought desolation upon 
the land, and true prosperity could never belong to 
Israel so long as the people were still under their 
influence. And if, under the later teachings of 
Christianity, we are not authorized to suppress the 
spread of false religious doctrines by the sword, it 
is not because error is less dangerous than before, 
or less displeasing in the sight of God. The dif- 
ference is to be assigned to the different constitution 
of the Jewish commonwealth from every other 
government upon earth. All civil governments 
have their just basis in divine appointment; all 
civil rulers are the servants of that God who rules 
over all ; but the Jewish people were under divine 
rule more directly than other people ever have 
been. Hence many religious offences were pun- 
ished with severe civil penalties; idolatry was 
equivalent to treason, for it threw off the authority 
of God their King. Other rulers are not competent 
judges of spiritual offences as such; therefore can 



THE DECISION OF THE GREAT QUESTION. 155 

neither denounce nor execute penalties for offences 
purely religious. Error is as dangerous and may- 
prove as mischievous as ever; but lordship over 
conscience is entrusted to no human hands, and 
persecution for ];elIgIous opinions is no duty for 
the Church or the State. 

The meeting of Elijah with the people of Israel 
on Mount Carmel was a scene of extraordinary 
interest indeed. None of us ever saw so solemn a 
meeting, and probably hi this life we never shall. 
But we send our thoughts back to those ancient 
times, because principles are involved in these 
scriptural narratives that are of permanent inter- 
est In every age and to every soul of man. In the 
character of a prophet of the Most High, Elijah 
gathered the tribes of Israel before him upon that 
eventful day, and he gave them his rebukes and 
expostulations In the name of his God. That God 
they had forsaken, his altars they had thrown down, 
his prophets they had slain, his honours they had 
transferred to Baal. It made the matter no better 
that the like their fathers had done for generations 
back. Now they bowed before the Lord, and now 
before an idol ; now they repented, and now they 
were hardened ; now they caressed, and now they 
persecuted the prophets of God : this had been 
IsraeFs manner from the days of Egypt. Yet all 
this wa^ wicked and ungrateful and unwise. The 
God of Israel was the Creator, Preserver, Bene- 
factor of that people ; he had led them from the 



156 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

house of bondage; he had given them a large and 
fruitful land for their inheritance; he had sent 
them prophets and teachers above the nations ; he 
had made them illustrious promises. So might he 
expostulate with them upon their ungrateful re- 
turns to him : ^^ The Lord hath a controversy with 
his people, and he will plead with Israel. O my 
people, what have I done unto thee ? And where- 
in have I wearied thee? Testify against me.^^ 
Micah vi. 2, 3. How great was their folly ! So 
Elijah reproves these continual vacillations. If 
your God is not worthy of your honour, turn away 
from him and choose Baal. If Jehovah is worthy, 
turn to him with all your hearts. A divided heart 
is unworthily offered to One who has claims so 
supreme, so excellent, and so necessarily jealous 
of all opposing claims. 

We may notice it, as a mark of the substantial 
unity of the scriptural writers and of the fitness 
of these teachings for human instruction every- 
where, that the principles involved in Elijah's de- 
mand upon the people at Carmel are just such 
as elsewhere in the Bible lay their claims on all 
its readers; just such as our Lord Jesus expressed 
when he declared that no man can serve two mas- 
ters ; just such as belong to the permanent instruc- 
tion of our race in every age ; and just such, there- 
fore, as should be addressed to every people by 
their religious teachers. Halting and indecision, 
when addressed by the claims of true religion, are 



THE DECISION OF THE GREAT QUESTION. 157 

wonderfully characteristic of man. Not to Israel 
alone^ but to us all, belongs this unhappy tendency 
to hang back from the service of the living God, 
rather than to press forward in it; and we are 
prone to be wavering, undecided, neglectful, in- 
different, or hostile toward those most important 
duties, where we could so easily justify firmness, 
interest, zeal and warm affection. Yet nowhere 
else is such a state of feeling more wicked, ungrate- 
ful, unwise and dangerous than in these religious 
concerns. 

Elijah addressed that assembled multitude as 
though one common charge lay against them all. 
Nor was this in forgetfulness that various classes 
of opinion and character were there upon Carmel. 
Rather, it was with a wise and true discernment 
which points out a single principle common to them 
all. There is a radical source of man's hostility 
and of man's indifference to true religion ; which in- 
deed is also the true secret of hesitancy and luke- 
warmness and transient zeal in many who are not 
wholly undecided or neglectful. The prophet meant 
not to imply that the people before him were all 
alike, all equally guilty and entertaining the same 
opinions upon these momentous matters. There may 
have been some present who in the confusion of 
religious throngs in Israel may have been disposed 
to put away all thought of any God — Baal or Je- 
hovah. There were present four hundred prophets 
of Baal, men of open hostility to Israel's God, who 



158 THE TRANSLxYTED PROPHET. 

had bathed their guilty hands in the blood of 
Elijah's brethren, and who that day were to pour 
out their own under the righteous law of an aveng- 
ing God. There was Ahab, who had sold himself 
to work iniquity, who was yet for ten years longer 
to resist the divine warnings, and whose blood at 
last the dogs should lick. There also w^ere men 
who had bowed to Baal through cupidity which 
grasped eagerly at the honours, the ease and the 
gain held forth by the liberal Jezebel ; men who 
indifferently fell in with the prevailing temper of 
the times for wrong or right; men whose fears 
had driven them to the cruel service of Baal ; and 
there, too, men whose consciences could own Jehovah 
alone as God, and who had carefully kept aloof 
from all that Jezebel demanded. 

So the multitude on Carmel was no unfit repre- 
sentation — not in exact forms, but in substantial 
principles — of the congregations brought together 
upon every returning Sabbath in our Christian 
sanctuaries. What wdde extremes of sentiment 
and feeling exist in every such assembly ! There 
may venture among them, from time to time, men 
who decidedly refuse to honour the sacred Scrip- 
tures and their glorious Author. There may some- 
times be those whose wavering thoughts call in 
question the divine existence ; sometimes those 
w4io are unbelieving toward his word ; often there 
are those who profess doctrines that are at war with 
the direct teachings of God's revealed will; and 



i 



THE DECISION OF THE GREAT QUESTION. 159 

often many who have scarcely any thoughts of 
their own upon these momentous matters, but think 
and feel and do as the whim of changing humours 
or the prevailing tendencies around them dictate. 
We may well wonder at the listlessness^ indecision 
and ignorance of thousands whose opportunities 
have been every w^ay favourable to learn the teach- 
ings of divine truth. Experience proves that men 
may sit for years under an intelligent ministry, 
and have considerable familiarity with the letter 
of the Scriptures, and yet have very vague and 
indefinite ideas of what true religion is, or of what 
is demanded of them in order to the due course 
and the desirable end of a godly life. Not only 
have they given little serious attention to the 
abounding evidences that these teachings are of 
divine origin, but many persons who have had 
some acquaintance with the Bible all their lives 
long are quite unable to give any sensible account 
of the distinctive principles of Christianity. Ask 
them concerning that holy law of God which they 
have broken, whose obligations are upon them and 
under whose fearful curse they already are, and 
they have but low conceptions of its spirituality 
or of its just claims upon them. Ask them of 
man's fallen estate, the evidences of which force 
themselves into the notice of every serious mind, 
and though they will acknowledge that they are 
sinners, they know little of the heart's depravity, 
and poorly see the necessity for the soul's regenera- 



160 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

tion. They have heard of the gospel of Christ, 
and indefinitely understand that it is a plan of di- 
vine mercy for man's salvation ; but how herein 
the justice and mercy of God are made to harmon- 
ize, what is the relation of Christ's sufferings to 
the demands of the law, and how a righteous God 
can forgive the guilty, are all matters very seldom 
considered and very little understood by thousands 
who are accustomed to hear the gospel. Having 
ears, they hear not ; having eyes, they see not, nor 
understand. Then there are others who know 
more of the teachings of the Scriptures, who recog- 
nize their necessities as sinners, and who know 
their duty to seek the grace of Christ ; but they 
linger along, irresolute and halting respecting the 
most momentous duty that can belong to this 
earthly life. 

Perhaps tliere is an important sense in which it 
is proper to describe all irreligious, indeed all un- 
converted persons, as undecided and halting. Even 
those who talk much on religious topics, argue 
against essential teachings of the gospel, and avow 
boldly sentiments the most mischievous and un- 
believing, are not so settled as their words, or even 
their thoughts, seem to indicate. Very often the 
boldest profession of erroneous sentiments is either 
an assumed cloak for the heart's depravity, or a 
form by which depravity displays itself: it answers 
the purpose so long as the sinner is prosperous and 
at ease ; but he is easily alarmed^ and the world is 



THE DECISION OF THE GREAT QUESTION. 161 

easily undeceived, then some unlooked-for calamity 
unveils the soul's true character. It is a well- 
known thing in human experience that infidels 
have been put to shame by the terrors of sudden 
exposure to peril, and converted by awakenings 
which furnished no new arguments in favour of 
the truth. AVe may account for this by claiming 
that God will not allow -the soul of man to be 
truly satisfied by any falsehood ; confirmation in 
error is never so settled as to allow no room for 
reopening momentous questions ; and many doubts, 
misgivings and inconsistencies forbid a serious man 
to be anything else than halting and undecided so 
long as he is in the wrong. The men who are 
most firmly fixed in falsehood are those who are 
too ignorant and too stupid ever to think at all. 
Thoughtful men — men who seriously ponder the 
question of salvation, and who have any knowledge 
of Jesus Christ our Lord — can never find rest for 
their souls till they find it in him. So the reproof 
which Elijah's words gave to the assembled people 
of Carmel conveys also an admonition that is well 
worthy of being repeated in the ears of men in all 
our worshipping assemblies. 

How wide, then, is the circle of careless men 
who may be described as halting and undecided in 
matters of religion ! More or less dissatisfied with 
their own opinions, how many are continually 
changing their views, and because they give no due 
and prayerful attention to it, are gradually sliding 
u 



162 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

down to grosser errors ! And yet the boldest are 
liable to have all their boastings silenced, and their 
firmest confidences subverted by the scorching power 
of tribulations or the awakening power of con- 
science. Many there are w^ho before their fellow- 
men seem decided enough in the choice and pur- 
suit of error, who yet know that the ultimate 
solution of this question must be before God, and 
who, before his eye, are filled with anxiety and 
fear touching the result. Many resolve with them- 
selves that they will not always live as they are 
now living ; they form many plans ; and repent- 
ance and faith and final salvation always make up 
a part of that prospective life by which their fancy 
keeps quiet a half-awakened conscience ; and they 
pass their most favoured years in indecision, till 
the matter is cut short by an unexpected and an 
impenitent death-bed. Promise after promise is 
made by sinful men — made only to be broken 
while they so long halt between two opinions. 

Let us dwell not longer upon the characteristics 
of irresolution and indecision in sinful men, where 
each person may have peculiarities of his own. 
The challenge of the prophet implies the folly, 
the unhappiness, the guilt and the danger of such 
a state of mind in any of its stages, and calls the 
unsatisfied and the hesitating to decide promptly 
for the living God. 

Every reasonable thought showed the folly of 
Israel in choosing Baal before Jehovah ; but, in- 



THE DECISION OF THE GREAT QUESTION. 163 

deed, the folly of rejecting the gospel of Christ is 
the most palpable. One thought alone should be 
enough to declare this : that men are usually pro- 
fane and irreligious just in proportion as they are 
thoughtless of divine claims and reckless of human 
duties ; and men never become exemplary and con- 
sistent Christians, except by serious reflection, such 
as becomes a rational and moral nature, and such 
as accompanies a manifest improvement *in lifers 
duties. The folly of indifference or indecision in 
religious duty is manifest upon any serious reflec- 
tion. Surely we have nothing to attend to of 
superior importance to the claims of the immortal 
soul. If we are to live for ever, if there is even 
but a possibility that this may be so, the charge 
of sin lies justly against us, and thus the question 
arises. How may sinners meet a righteous God? 
Here are thoughts that should overshadow all the 
minor studies which our earthly life can know. 
When men readily acknowledge that learning, 
wealth and pleasures are of no account when 
weighed against a man's life — since to lose the life 
is to lose these — we should more readily say there 
is no profit in all man can gain of earth if the 
soul is lost. Now we have in our hands the means 
of solving all these indecisions. We may put be- 
yond all reasonable doubt these momentous ques- 
tions. We may know there is a God ; that the 
Scriptures are his word ; that we are sinners going 
forward to the judgment-seat and to eternity; that 



1G4 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

the gospel of Jesus Christ provides a salvation 
interiigently and efficaciously suited to us ; and 
that every humble believer in Jesus shall be saved. 
Thousands have settled firmly and happily upon 
the Rock, and we may here find peace. Some, 
indeed, who are true Christians have their anx- 
ieties and disquietudes, but these always regard 
themselves and not Christ. They doubt not his 
power, and they wish no other refuge; and they 
can find full peace by drawing nearer to him. Here 
may men find satisfaction, and certainly nowhere 
else in the world can they find it. And the folly 
of living undecided is the greater because men 
deal so with nothing else except with their souls. 
When sickness invades the body, when misfortunes 
threaten the property, when slanders assail the 
reputation, men are not willing to sit idly still and 
make no efforts for relief. They are ever anxious 
and restless till every undecided matter is either 
settled or put in the best shape for settlement; 
they use all the means they can to secure success. 
It is only in religion — the last place where sucli 
conduct can be justified — that men are indifferent, 
irresolute and thoughtless. Yet the value of the 
soul is unspeakable. 

To be unsettled in any important matter is an 
unhappy state of mind, which men can scarcely 
bear in any other than religious things ; nor would 
they here, except as the heart is hardened to it by 
ignorance, by erroneous views, or by deceitful prom- 



THE DECISION OF THE GREAT QUESTION. 165 

ises of different engagements hereafter. Doubtless 
many are truly wretched — especially at times — • 
when serious thoughts are pressed upon their at- 
tention^ who might easily find true rest in the 
gospel of Christ. 

The GiriLT of man's disregard of God and of 
his claims is the chief matter, after all. Let us 
not speak of this iniquity as it involves merely the 
loss of the soul, though great is his guilt toward 
himself who so wrongs his own soul as to neglect 
the salvation of the gospel. But God's claims 
upon us are so excellent in themselves, and so 
supreme and perfect in rectitude, that opposition, 
refusal, neglect and indifference are but different 
degrees of criminality. Think of God as our 
Creator and constant Benefactor, and can our for- 
getfulness of him be less than the basest ingrati- 
tude? Think of God as our Euler. His author- 
ity is legitimate ; his laws are wise ; his government 
beneficent and just; yet we slight his rule. Is it 
treasonable to disregard a human government, and 
less criminal to rebel against God ? Think of him 
as a Father. What judgment would any father 
form of a son, who should live in careless wicked- 
ness, away from the home of the family, and say 
that for years he was trying to make up his mind 
whether he should or should not love and reve- 
rence and obey his father? Could a dutiful son 
ever ponder such a question at all? Is not the 
son already undutiful and wicked so long as he 



166 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

lives thus estranged? Yet, indeed, every simjll- 
tude we can use to express the truth in this case 
falls far short of expressing the guilt of men who 
live unreconciled to God when called to obey the 
teachings of the gospel. God has laid us under 
infinite obligations ; even in our sinfulness he has 
pointed out plainly our way of escape from sin 
and hell ; he has shown his love and forbearance 
in a thousand ways, and none of us are ignorant, 
or need remain in ignorance, of every duty re- 
quired of us that we may serve the living God and 
find his everlasting favour. 

The man who has not chosen the service of God 
heartily and decidedly lives in increasing danger 
of the souPs final loss. JSTo man can tell when his 
mortal life shall end, and thus every impenitent 
soul may be only a few hours distant from the 
abode of the lost. But even those who may yet 
live many years spend all their time in gathering 
perils. Every year spent in sin makes it more 
likely that the next year will also be so spent ; the 
engagements of life become more entangling and 
Engrossing, to exclude, rather than to help, all seri- 
ous reflection ; every new time finds new reasons for 
neglecting what has already so long been neglected; 
and experience shows that in the worst path a man 
can take through life he may find reasons for per- 
severing in it, whether these reasons deceive him 
so that he justifies his course, or whether they 
arise from the desperate conclusion that it is vain 



THE DECISION OF THE GREAT QUESTION. 167 

for him to try to do otherwise. The chief danger 
in the paths of irreligion is the danger of grieving 
from the soul the strivings of God's Holy Spirit. 
The Scriptures give us serious warning touching 
this great sin. When God calls on our hearts by 
the movements of his grace, whether in the sanc- 
tuary or in secret thoughts, perhaps upon our beds, 
man should yield. Better a man had never been 
born than to grieve finally from him the Holy 
Spirit. 

The prophet's words are full of thoughts which 
we should seriously ponder beyond the time we 
now allot to them. See here that God admits no 
rival, but demands that our hearts should be yield- 
ed to him. We wish to pay a half service, and 
many compare themselves with others, as if God 
might accept them because others are worse than 
they. Will a human goverment accept a man's 
services who is half a traitor and half loyal ? The 
nearest approach to piety, which yet withholds the 
heart from God, is impiety. In religion we have 
to do with the Heart Searcher ! Nor will the 
prophet's words allow that any hindrances to our 
duty can excuse the guilt of disobedience. Many a 
man in Israel might have chosen Jehovah that day to 
the peril of his mortal life; and every man may 
find difficulties in his pathway. Yet God claims 
our service, and every hindrance should be pressed 
aside that we may serve him. 

Every man stands on one side or the other of the 



168 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

great line that divides the friends and foes of God. 
Some indeed are unwilling to call themselves his 
foes, who still do not claim to be his friends 
But this is a matter that must be settled by his 
laws, and not by our opinions. It is of infinite im- 
portance that so great a question should stand in 
no doubtful posture. Too long has it so been with 
many already ! 



I 



C H A PT E R X . 
ezijah: praying ttpon mojjkt cabmez, 

THE incidents now to be noticed are few; but we 
consider important things in the divine govern- 
ment, in providence and grace. 

After the eventful and busy day upon Carmel the 
prophet, wearied by toilsome and responsible duties, 
might gladly seek repose and refreshment. Indeed, 
in the brevity of these narratives we cannot decide 
that a single day was enough for those great trans- 
actions : time enough for doing all that was done 
we are bound to give to one who was no laggard 
worker, though no record is made of the days spent 
in the whole matter. Doubtless Elijah made no 
needless delays, but could now say, with his greater 
Lord, " My meat is to do the will of ^' my God, 
" and to finish his work.^^ The reformation of a 
people is not to be accomplished in a few hours or 
days. Elijah's work was far from its completion ; 
and there was less done than now the sanguine 
prophet hoped. But an important blow had been 
given to the prevailing idolatry ; and he looked 
for God's favour toward Israel, and the first token 
of it in rain upon the earth. No sooner Avas the 

169 



170 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

slaughter of the false prophets ended, then he bade 
Ahab get up and eat and drink. This may be un- 
derstood, Go up from the valley of Kishon, or it may 
be figurative language, Else up from humiliation ; 
for, perhaps, Ahab mourned and fasted for the 
calamities of Israel. So the sound of rain may 
refer to a noise in the mountain or in the tops of 
the trees, which in the East is a sign of rain ; or it 
may have been the prophet^s believing anticipation 
of the coming storm, though none about him looked 
for rain but he. He uses the common language of 
the Orientals ; for they say there is a sound of rain 
where we say there are sig^ns of rain. 

Here is the first mention made of Elijah's ser- 
vant. 

Many things like this find a place in the scrip- 
tural narratives only incidentally : the history is 
too brief to allow all desirable details. Eastern 
customs differ greatly from ours ; a prophet's ser- 
vant, however, was usually a pupil ; sometimes, as 
in the case of Elisha, a successor. Some conjecture 
that this servant was the son of the widow of Za- 
rephath. Elijah went up upon the mount to a spot 
that commanded a view of the Mediterranean Sea ; 
cast himself down upon the earth ; assumed a pos- 
ture w^hich is not used by the Orientals in their 
prayers, but w^iich seems to us a natural and hum- 
ble attitude of devotion, and prayed earnestly to 
the God of Israel for rain upon the land. With 
the formal offering of prayer we are sufficiently 



ELIJAH PRAYINa UPON MOUNT CARMEL. 171 

familiar ; indeed, our very familiarity with it may 
keep us from fairly considering how serious is the 
duty, how exalted the privilege, how beneficent the 
power of prayer! It is the direct intercourse of 
sinful man with his adorable Creator. Elijah's 
prayer may give occasion to some reflections upon 
the consistency of humtin prayers with divine pur- 
poses. Elijah's prayer is directly offered for rain 
upon the earth. So the narrative declares; so a 
later writer in the New Testament expressly affirms. 
AVe may gladly recognize the important connection, 
devotionally and practically; and in the teachings 
of a true and high philosophy we may vindicate the 
truth that the Most High listens to the voice of 
man. 

The prayer of the prophet was believing prayer. 
We do not mean by this simply that he was per- 
suaded that his voice would be heard. Two things 
should be known and carefully distinguished here. 
Faith and presumption differ widely in their nature, 
operations and effects, yet are they often confounded. 
Both may include a persuasion, more or less confi- 
dently entertained, of God's favour toward us. But 
they differ thus: true faith rests its expectations 
upon just ideas of God's character or a just under- 
standing of God's promises; while presumption 
confides in fancies, impressions or prejudices, with 
no true reliance upon God as he is, or upon 
what he says in the true intent and force of his 
gracious promises. The prophet's prayer, at this 



172 THE TRANSLATED PKOPHET. 

time^ recognized GocFs forbearance and tender 
mercy, but specially rested upon the promise given 
by God when he commanded Elijah to show him- 
self to Ahab: "I will send rain upon the earth." 
"We are not taught in the Scriptures that the faith 
that addresses God^s throne of grace must ever rely 
distinctly upon an express promise from his lips. 
Faith often relies upon the divine character and 
the principles of the divine government ; yet these 
principles must be correctly comprehended and 
interpreted, so that God shall be honoured both 
when we ask and when he answers. 

The character and word and providence of God 
encourage us to offer prayer for blessings not ex- 
pressly promised. Many scriptural examples and 
many experiences of later times encourage us to 
ask for things that the divine dealings ever seeni to 
withhold or deny. The indications of Providence 
seemed all unfavourable to the offering of Abraham's 
prayer for the Sodomites ; yet was his acceptable 
and believing prayer. So Jacob plead with THE 
AxGEL, and refused the words of the divine wrestler, 
^^Let me go." So Moses plead successfully for 
Israel against the Lord's just threatenings. Faith 
may not always rest upon an express promise; it 
may act against the apparent indications of his 
providence; but it comprehends the principles 
w^hich give honour to God, and it animates the 
believer's desires, and regulates his petition accord- 
ingly. 



ELIJAH PRAYING UPON MOUNT CARMEL. 173 

Let it not be thought that the prophet's prayers 
were unnecessary because God had expressly de- 
clared that he would send ram. This, we know, 
is the substance of the objection made against all 
prayer — that man cannot affect the divine purposes; 
what God designs to do he will do, whether we 
pray or not; what he does not design, prayer can- 
not induce him to do. But the objection goes a 
great deal too far; cannot possibly be carried out 
by any man touching the relations we sustain to 
God, and is as contrary as possible to the true 
teachings and spirit of piety. For the entire gov- 
ernment of God over a rational universe implies 
and includes the subordination and use of proper 
means to secure an appointed end. Yet no philos- 
opher has ever been able exactly to point out the 
precise relation of means to their end — of a cause 
to its effect. We know that man must plant and 
sow, or he cannot have a harvest. Yet God has 
promised that harvests shall never cease while the 
earth remains. Are w^e to argue that men need not 
sow because God can give harvests without seed, 
has promised harvests, or will not change whether 
men sow or refuse to sow ? Rather, God's methods 
of providence and his promises of increase are man's 
encouragement to sow. We would not sow but for 
the divine pledges that we shall reap. These pledges 
are verified in man's experience, and we sow in 
firm confidence that the harvest shall come. So 
the pious mind reasons in spiritual matters. So 



174 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

Elijah reasoned. He will pray because God has 
promised to send rain. The more reason he had 
to expect an answer, the more reasonable it was for 
him to pray. 

The prophet bade his servant watch for tokens 
of an answer while he prayed. At first no signs 
could be seen. He bade him go again seven times. 
Doubtless, this is a definite number put for an in- 
definite. He went to plead till the answer came. 
This may lead us to notice that in scriptural teach- 
ings on the subject of prayer singular encouragement 
is given to lead us to continued and importunate 
pleadings; and this seems to imply that there is a 
necessity for such encouragement. So, then, we 
need not wonder if the answer to our prayer is not 
immediate, if we must pray often, and if there seems 
to be denial when God but uses his ordinary methods 
of answering. God's promises may be regarded as 
addressed to the habit of devotion rather than to 
the act of prayer. Many reasons justify the divine 
delays. God is a Sovereign, and would teach us 
to ash rather than to demand of him. God is wise, 
and knows the manner, measure and time for giving 
better far than we. Delays prove the reality and 
the strength of our faith. We have no record of 
Elijah's pleadings upon that memorable occasion. 
Indeed, if we had his very words, the form of 
Elijah's prayer would no more impart his pleading 
spirit than to wear Elijah's coat would make a 
man a prophet. Our prayers should be expressed 



ELIJAH PRAYING UPON MOUNT CARMEL. 175 

as correctly and pointedly as possible; but the chief 
matter before the eye of God respects the spirit of 
the worshipper. 

The rain storms of that region generally arise 
from the Mediterranean Sea, and a small cloud, 
that increases with astonishing rapidity, is the 
usual forerunner of a tempest and torrents of rain. 
For this the prophet bade his servant look. Though 
he expects the answer from God, he anticipates that 
he will employ the usual natural agencies to effect 
the end. 

Elijah praying on Carmel teaches us the power 
of prayer. He prayed that it might rain, and God 
gave the needed blessing. The people of God have 
for ages rejoiced in the efjficacy of prayer. In all 
times of human necessity, when natural blessings 
are needed or natural calamities are to be averted, 
prayer is. man's appropriate means for securing the 
divine favor. Yet there is a skeptical philosophy 
which affects to disbelieve the connection between 
the praying of man and the w^orklng of God. This 

• philosophy argues that God has established the 
universe and its affairs in infinite wisdom; that the 

T natural laws ordained by him act with entire uni- 
formity; and that the prayers or desires of men 
can have no power to change the divine purposes 
or in any wise to influence his working. In a 
blinded or cavilling spirit it seems to imply that 
the perogatives of God cannot be maintained, and 
that the laws of the universe must be changed 



170 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

that prayer may be thus answered. Yet inclet^d 
none more carefully honour God as the great Ruler 
over all^ none more distinctly recognize the wisdom 
and uniformity of his natural laws, none have a 
higher estimate of his authority, than those who, 
consistently wdth these thoughts, implicitly rely 
upon the efficacy of prayer. 

AVe are among those who highly prize human 
philosophy in its legitimate teachings, yet we know 
that false philosophy is, of all things, the most 
absurd and contradictory. Human researches have 
not always been kept within their proper bound- 
aries. True philosophy is an humble inquirer 
after all the facts that may be gathered in every 
direction ; these facts it recognizes even when it is 
unable to explain them ; and it notices the connec- 
tions of various events, though not always able to 
show how they are related to each other. 

Now, it is a matter of observation, proved by 
every class of witnesses capable of bearing testi- 
mony in the case, that prayer is instrumental in 
securing blessings from the hand of God ; and we ' 
demand that true philosophy should recognize the 
facts in this case as in any other matter. Rain has 
been sent after seasons of drought; health has been 
given in times of sickness; special deliverance has 
been granted in impending perils, and other evils 
have been abated when they have occurred, or their 
occurrence has been wholly prevented through thts 
offering of prayer. These are truths upon who,s<3 



ELIJAH PRAYIXG UPON MOUNT CARMEL. 177 

verity testimony may be received, and upon which 
as large testimony may be gathered as concerning 
any truths in the wide circle of human philosophy. 
First^ the Bible testifies^ with a truthfulness w^hich 
none can gainsay w^ithout rejecting also the irrefrag- 
able proofs of its divine authority, that " the effect- 
ual fervent prayer of a righteous man'' has efficacy 
to secure the divine favour. We need not exhibit 
the testimonies on this; every reader of the Scrip- 
tures is familiar with them, and they are conclusive 
proof to all w^ho receive these records as authorita- 
tive. Secondly, God leaves himself not without 
witness in all the earth ; and men in all lands and 
in all ages have believed that supplications do avail 
for human relief. Thirdly, every believer — that is, 
every man who really offers availing prayer — knows 
the truth of its efficacy. And, fourthly, many 
recorded facts — as distinctly observed and as truth- 
fully attested as any facts known to man — give 
proof of the power of prayer. 

There is no more room for objection and dif- 
ficulty here than in other matters of human 
knowledge; the only difference that can be dis- 
cerned is this, that the skeptical and cavilling spirit 
in sinful man is peculiarly bitter and persistent 
against religious teachings. Let all facts carelessly 
noticed be set aside; let false reasonings be rejected ; 
let improper inferences be discarded, here as else- 
where; yet let plain and important truth be can- 
didly recognized. And when we maintain most 

12 



178 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

fully that God hears the prayers of men, we do 
not set aside the ordinances of heaven or make the 
Most High less a ruler over his creatures. It is no 
part of the Bible idea of prayer that man should 
only pray. Rather, every true believer quickens 
his duty by his devotion. If he can do anything 
himself to promote the object at which he aims, 
then he must labour, or his prayers are inconsistent 
and presumptuous. Believers have never thought 
that the fullest confidence in prayer inspired any 
less confidence in God's providential laws or cut 
the sinews of human effort. If man can do no- 
thing, let him only pray. If he can do anything, 
as God's providence bids, let him be both dutiful 
and devotional. If the husbandman prays for a 
harvest, let him also plough and sow and reap. If 
Hezekiah prays for longer life, let him use means to 
recover his health and to preserve it. If Elijah 
cannot gather the clouds over Israel, let him plead 
for divine interference; yet even then, expecting 
that God will work through his own laws rather 
than against them, let him look for just such a 
storm as that land had often seen. 

But when an earthly philosopher carries out his 
cavillings, and supposes that we are not to look for 
the influence of moral causes to produce effects in 
the physical world, we charge him with passing 
the boundaries of a true philosophy. He not only 
dictates what he thinks ought to be instead of 
observing what is; he not only thus presump- 



ELIJAH PRAYING UPON MOUNT CARMEL. 179 

tuously prescribes less to the Supreme Ruler, but 
indeed he degrades the blessed government of God 
over man. The scriptural teachings are far better 
than these low thoughts. Man is God^s noblest 
earthly work because he is a moral and immortal 
being, and the government of God over man would 
be unworthy of him and of us if it did not include 
moral laws and moral ends. God's physical and 
moral worlds are connected; must be, ought to be; 
the physical should be subordinate to the moral, 
and its laws, w^hile not subverted, should be con- 
trolled for moral ends. The observed facts of 
human philosophers can show nothing contrary to 
these principles. There are inexplicable mysteries 
in deep investigations into the relations of causes 
and effects; we may err in assigning efficacy where 
it does not belong; in this matter the scriptural 
philosopher, taught by the plain word of God, has 
the advantage of the natural philosopher. And 
certainly no sound philosophy can forbid that the 
moral government of God may be carried on over 
men in entire consistency with the existing laws 
of nature; and it gives us nobler conceptions of 
God and higher ideas of man's duties and destinies 
to know that such a government exists. 

Moral and reasonable beings should have a moral 
governor. Can we believe that God would estab- 
lish a series of natural laws which he himself could 
not control for the better purposes of a moral 
government? It is to the honour of the Divine 



180 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

Ruler that his natural and moral government are 
both firmly established; both work according to 
principles given by him; and without collision or 
jarring, harmoniously co-operate. The whole 
philosophy of man is at fault if this is not so. 
AVe can give no kind of explanation of a thousand 
facts, continually occurring, if God is not a moral 
ruler to whose moral government the external and 
physical must be subservient. True thoughts here 
not only vindicate the divine answers to prayer, but 
they also reach much further. God's hand should 
be recognized controlling the events of human his- 
tory; God's avenging justice should be seen in the 
detection and punishment of human crimes; God's 
voice is heard in the whisperings of the human 
conscience: thus man may see the finger of God in 
the current events of life; and every wise man 
should acknowledge a moral government simul- 
taneously carried on with the providential ruling 
of the world, and using that providential rule to 
promote purposes still more important. 

It is admitted on all hands that God works by 
means. Yet no man is competent to decide that 
prayer must be excluded from the means which 
man may employ subordinate to the divine bless- 
ing. Prayer to the Supreme Ruler is as reasonable 
as any other duty we owe to him. Indeed any 
other idea than this tends to set man free from re- 
sponsibility to God, sets his obedience to physical 
laws separate from moral accountability, and robs 



ELIJAH PRAYING UPON MOUNT CARMEL. 181 

God of his personal character and influence among 
men. The falsehood may issue in either extreme — 
fatalism or atheism. If God cannot control his 
own laws, or if there is no God to control these 
laws, the practical result is much the same. When 
morality becomes mere policy, and God is unable 
or unwilling to be the hearer of prayer, the world 
has lost its ruler. 

Happily, in the orderings of divine wisdom, a 
profound knoAvledge of causes, principles and con- 
nections is not needful before we can reap the 
benefit of his wise orderings. Men breathed the 
air of heaven and enjoyed the light of the sun 
thousands of years before they knew how to analyze 
the atmosphere, or knew — if even now they know 
— what the light is. A fool can be nourished by 
his food, though he knows not why, as truly as the 
philosopher who speculates profoundly respecting the 
nutritious properties of this or that article of diet. 
Let us not undervalue principles; let us investigate 
every subject wisely; and yet because our ignor- 
ance is always far larger than our knowledge, we 
must not refuse to take advantage of plain truths 
because there are some things about them w^e can- 
not fully comprehend. Man's practical philosophy 
is always far in advance of his theories, and the 
theoretical is to be corrected by the practical. No- 
where is this more true than in reference to prayer. 
Thousands upon thousands of humble souls in all 
ages have known by sweet experience that God 



182 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

hears and answers prayer. They may have thought 
little of inquiring how the divine agency was 
exerted ; they may even have thought it irreverent 
to judge that the Most High could not make his 
own laws harmonize, or they may have been alike 
ignorant of the puzzlings of false philosophy or 
of the solutions of true. As there is a practical 
life that uses and enjoys life's blessings though 
having much or little acquaintance with philosophy, 
so our practical faith should secure and enjoy the 
advantages of piety, w^hether we can or cannot 
investigate every principle. Without practical 
experience all philosophy is vain. What would 
the philosopher's life be worth if he only analyzed 
food and air, but never breathed nor ate? They 
only are wise who are praying men. We are 
dependent upon God; God calls us to recognize 
this; God promises blessings, and does give them, 
in answer to prayer. This is fallen man's inestima- 
ble privilege; it i& sinful man's first duty; that we 
may believe God's gracious promises is the sole 
privilege that is superior to our pleading them in 
prayer. 

We cannot easily overrate its advantages. The 
example of Elijah thus pleading on Mount Carmel 
for rain upon that thirsty land may encourage our 
approach to God ; may teach us that as our peti- 
tions are not successful for the sake of the offerer, 
so our personal worthiness is not to be regarded as 
our qualification to come before God, and may bid 



ELIJAH PRAYING UPON MOUNT CARMEL. 183 

US ask large favours from his hand, Elijah was a 
man subject to like passions as we are; we are 
definitely bidden to come in the name of Christ. 
We may specially ask for spiritual blessings; we 
may honour him by making large requests; we 
often defeat ourselves by the feebleness of our 
faith. 

We may have, as Elijah had, special reasons for 
praying with importunate earnestness, as spiritual 
distress is more dangerous than temporal; a drought 
from the withholding of the gracious outpourings 
of his Spirit has more disastrous effects than when 
the rains of heaven are restrained. And shall God 
hear the prophet who plead for this miraculous 
relief for a suffering people, and shall he not hear 
when his people humbly ask that the refreshings 
of divine grace shall bless his heritage? We have 
]p,rger reasons to expect that he will hear us when 
we truly plead for the Spirit. 



CHAPTER XI. 

EFFECTTTAT., FEJRVFNT FMAYER. 

IN the New Testament the Apostle James has 
brought the prayers of Elijah before the Church 
with such interest and promise, and has given us 
such wise and encouraging suggestions to help us 
to pray as the prophet did, that we may well give 
his words our careful thoughts; if even we may 
now and then repeat somewhat that we have already 
said. He tells us something about the man, but he 
tells us more of the characteristics of his prayers. 

I. The apostle bids our thoughts dwell on the 
man who prays — Elijah, a man subject to like pa^ 
sions as we are. He pays no special attention to 
the fact that he was a prophet, for this has nothing 
to do with this duty. God's prophets should be 
men of prayer, and by reason of their office should 
be devotional. But prayer expresses not a man's 
office, but his necessities, and the privilege extends 
far more widely than to the office-bearers in the 
Church of God. He had before said, however, that 
Elijah was a righteous man, and stress is laid upon 
this when he declares that the prayers of such pre- 
vail much. Yet this righteous man was one subject 
to like passions as we are. 

184 



185 

So, then, this pleading suppliant is a sinner before 
a holy Gocl ; we might even, if we so wished, 
enumerate some of his infirmities ; suffice it to say, 
that it was not the excellency of his personal cha- 
racter that gave success to his pleadings. Like 
every other praying man of whom we have any 
record in the Scriptures, he presumed not to ask 
blessings for his own sake. While Abraham pleads, 
^^ Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ;^' 
and Daniel, a man greatly beloved, says, ^^AVe do 
not present our supplications before thee for our 
righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies,'^ Gen. 
xviii. 25; Dan. ix. 18; so Elijah pleads for the 
honour of the Lord his God. 1 Kings xviii. 36. 
No man, in any age, would be heard in pleadings 
urged because of his own righteousness. Indeed, 
when our prayers regard our own interests, they 
necessarily begin with confessions of our unworthi- 
ness, and their petitions are designed to tell our 
necessities ; and let it not be thought, because the 
prayers of a righteous man are here especially com- 
mended, that therefore the prayers of the guilty are 
forbidden or even discouraged. If the guilty may 
not pray, the mercy-seat is shorn of its chief glory. 
Rather, he who calls sinners to repentance will open 
his ears at their cry, when they humbly kneel before 
him to tell the tale of their penitence. Let any 
sinful soul draw near to God with sincere confessions 
of his sins, acknowledging the righteousness of the 
law he has broken and whose curse he fears, recog- 



186 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

Zing the grace of the gospel whose blessings he 
solicits ; let him draw his encouragements from the 
character and grace and promises of God, and the 
greater his sins the less can he afford to decline 
from this duty and the more importunate may he 
reasonably be. God commands him to draw near, 
and he cannot refuse without increasing guilt. Large 
are the encouragements held out to the humblest 
and the vilest : ^' This poor man cried, and the Lord 
heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.'^ 
Psalm xxxiv. 6. 

II. We should notice the characteristics of the 
prayers of Elijah. 

We will neither understand the prophet nor the 
apostle unless we notice that the prayer here spoken 
of is intercessory prayer. James speaks of brethren 
praying for each other, and Elijah plead, not for 
himself, but for Israel. Of this we have briefly 
spoken in the preceding chapter. It has much to 
do with a proper understanding of the case ; and it 
ought to be obvious that while an enemy of God 
may bow before him and plead for forgiveness and 
reconciliation, yet none but those who are already 
reconciled should presume to ask his blessings upon 
others. As for the foes of God, let them cease to 
be foes before they ask favours for others. 

This was believing prayer. Without faith it is 
impossible to make any acceptable approach to God. 
According to the Scriptures, faith is not, as some 
imagine^ a strong persuasion of the truth of any 



187 

particular thing. Many a man is firmly convinced 
that certain teachings are true while he is entirely 
mistaken, for they are totally false. True faith is 
the belief of the truth. The evidence may some- 
times be clear and sometimes obscure. Sometimes 
we plead in prayer, supported directly by the express 
promises of the Scriptures ; sometimes we must be- 
lieve against apparent threatenings of God's provi- 
dence, and sometimes faith secures a victory by 
pleading against divine refusals and denials. 

When Daniel prayed for his people's restoration, 
he knew from the sacred books that the time of 
God's promise was at hand. Dan. ix. 1. The 
apostles prayed for the coming of the Spirit, for 
their Lord had promised his speedy outpouring. 
Acts i. 4. In these cases faith rested directly on 
the divine w^ord. 

But when Jacob wrestled all night with the angel 
and prevailed, he feared and was in great distress ; 
for the near approach of Esau with intentions ap- 
parently hostile seemed contrary to the promise of 
divine protection. And when the angel said, ^^Let 
me go," the patriarch's faith refused, saying, ^^I 
will not let thee go except thou bless me." Gen. 
xxxiii. 26. When Esther ventured in before her 
royal husband to plead the cause of her people, she 
went with a trembling heart. For many days now 
she had not seen the king's face ; she feared that 
her race was known and that she was included in 
the proscription ; she knew that not always was 



188 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

the golden sceptre stretched out. Even when calling 
upon the God of her people^ ever assured that he 
would work enlargement and deliverance^ she trem- 
bled lest he might not work by her. So faith in 
her was the cry of distress in trouble^ hoping God 
might hear. But see yet more what faith may 
venture. Abraham plead for Sodom, though God 
told him that he was about to do contrary to these 
very petitions, yet every petition was favourably 
heard. And in one of the most remarkable inter- 
cessions ever offered by human lips, Moses turned 
away the divine wrath just about to smite, and 
seems almost to withstand the expressed purpose of 
the Almighty. Exod. xxxii. 10. And the poor 
heathen woman in the gospels gained her point be- 
cause she w^ould not be repulsed by the silent indiffer- 
ence, the repeated repulses, and the tones of severity 
that seem so strange on the lips of Jesus. Faith 
need not always rest upon direct promises. Faith 
must honour the divine character, must aim at the 
divine glory, must submit to the divine will, and 
must cast out all elements of pride or rebellion or 
dictation. Yet may we boldly ask for things which 
no fnan will venture to expect, unless he has large 
conceptions of the grace and wisdom and power of 
God. 

The example of Elijah may encourage our peti- 
tions. We know not his warrant for prayers so 
extraordinary, but the extraordinary answers show 
the divine approval. And the argument to help 



189 

us to pray is that called by logicians a fortiori. 
Much more may we expect God to hear us than 
him. Elijah plead that God would set aside his 
usual working in nature, and God heard him. May 
me not expect to be heard w^hen we ask him to do 
according to his usual methods in grace? Elijah 
plead against the covenant people, our prayers are 
for the church of God. Elijah plead apparently 
without a promise. Shall we not find acceptance 
when we make mention of God^s own promises and 
plead for their fulfilment? 

When we form proper conceptions of Gocl, of 
his nature, government, grace, w^ord and methods 
of dealing, we have a just rule of faith. And we 
offer the prayer of faith as our devotions conform 
to these conceptions of him. 

The apostle says that Elijah prayed earnestly. 
Earnestness secures success where success is possible. 
An earnest mind is bent on reaching its aim, has 
warm desire for it, and acquires, as if intuitively, 
the tact of turning obstacles into motives for greater 
exertion. Earnest prayers are likely to gain an 
answer. " The kingdom of heaven sufifereth vio- 
lence.^^ This has no reference to manner, but to 
that deep engagedness of soul that becomes this 
serious service. Let the priests of Baal cry aloud 
and cut themselves with knives, but Elijah rever- 
ently bows and pleads. 

Earnest prayer implies a special object. Let us 
not make the mistake of supposing that all accept- 



190 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

able prayer must be fervent and agonizing. There 
are many ordinary acts of worship, serious and 
sincere, lawful and acceptable, in which we present 
no special petition. We give daily thanks for 
daily mercies received; we ask daily for the supply 
of common necessities; we are truly thankful and 
'dependent; but the strong emotions which properly 
characterize special petitions cannot possibly be felt 
with the ordinary pleadings of the closet, the family 
or the sanctuary. All prayer should be truthful, 
serious, humble; in oft-repeated petitions special 
care should guard against formality ; but only par- 
ticular exigencies arouse our strong emotions. A 
friend is sick. This is the case the apostle men- 
tions when he commends Elijah's example. It is 
in the nature of the case that earnest pleadings 
should be special. So are all the scriptural exam- 
ples. Strong feeling springs from urgent necessities; 
the burdened heart presses near to God with a 
particular errand. Hear the cry of the publican — 
his conscience awakened, liis offences in array 
against him, his sense of unworthiness bidding him 
stand afar off; yet with downcast eye and smiting 
on the breast, and heavier beatings within than 
without, he presses near enough to be heard in that 
effectual plea: ^^ God be merciful to me, a sinner.'^ 
Hear the cry of that mother, though he answered 
never a word, though his disciples interpose in 
vain, though he declares he is not sent to such as 
she, and classes her with the dogs; yet with her 



191 

daughter's suffering image in her eye, convinced 
that only he can help, persuaded that his grace will 
not refuse, and with a thankful humility that can 
be content with the crumbs of such a table, she 
secures, not only her errand, but the commendation 
of her faith. 

And these are but types. For thousands of 
times since have, publican-like, penitents for them- 
selves, and parents for their children, agonized 
before God that he would hear and forgive and do. 
And still, let sinful men, who have souls that need 
forgiveness unto salvation, ponder their true condi- 
tion and awake to plead at his mercy-seat; let them 
study the publican's prayer, and begin to under- 
stand their un worthiness in offering even that; and 
yet let the burden of their guilt, the value of their 
souls and the thought of everlasting wrath forbid 
them to be silent; and, as ever, God will be heard 
of them " when they seek for him with the whole 
heart." And let Christians draw near the throne 
for unconverted and careless friends, for near rela- 
tives, for children. He says not to the seed of 
Jacob, Seek ye me in vain. 

Elijah prayed importunately. Our Lord explains 
the term: ^^ Men ought always to pray, and not to 
fainty The very words imply that through di- 
vine delays and our impatience we are liable to 
become discouraged. Yet the scriptural examples, 
the Saviour's parable and the experience of all ages 
combine to teach us that God's apparent refusals 



102 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

arc designed not to drive us from him, but to draw 
us to him, and that earnest importunity never 
pleads in vain. Scarcely is anything more amazing 
in the divine condescension than the lengths to 
Avhich an humble soul may go in prayer. It is 
well for us that our Lord's' lips uttered the parable 
of the unjust judge and the pleading widow. Let 
us ever repeat to our souls, when we feel dejected, 
these words of such high authority, ^^ Man ought 
ahcays to pray, and XOT to faixt.^' 

In describing the prophet's prayer, the apostle 
uses a particular word, which is used by ecclesiasti- 
cal historians to express something done under 
siipernaturcd influence. The prayer which the Holy 
Spirit suggests is availing: ^^We know not what 
we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit 
itself maketh intercession for us.'' Rom. viii. 26. 
It is our encouragement in prayer that Christ 
pleads for us in heaven, and the Spirit within us 
teaches us to pray. Yet, indeed, the Spirit's help 
within in the hour of wrestling anxiety is not a 
matter of our direct consciousness. The publican, 
least of all men, would venture to say, '' I have 
prayed aright." But when, in the teachings of the 
Bible, which is the Spirit's word, we have true ideas 
of our need ; when we believe that the divine 
honour may be maintained, perhaps glorified, in 
granting our petitions; when our souls are filled 
with earnest yearnings for the things we desire, — all 
this is entirely consistent with that sense of un- 



EFFECTUAL, FERVENT PRAYER. 193 

worthiness that hardly dares look up, of helpless- 
ness that can do nothing, of dumbness that can say 
nothing, and of deadness that can feel nothing. 
But when thus unhappy, discouraged, almost driven 
from the throne of grace, we yet have conceptions 
of our need, of urgent exigency, and of God's 
mercy, that forbid us to give over praying, then the 
Spirit makes intercessions for us in the prayers that 
are so broken, full of groans and sighs, and having 
no fluent petitions; and these are understood on high, 
not for their coherency or eloquence, but because ^^ He 
that searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind 
of the Spirit/' 

Let no man shrink from the duty of prayer be- 
cause the Holy Spirit indites the effectual petition. 
It is an important reason for thankfulness. This 
makes prayer a serious and solemn thing ; it makes 
us humble and dependent ; it makes the mercy -seat 
seem the very presence of God, and this surely is 
all right. Well may we long to offer effectual and 
availing prayer. JSTo excellency in us gives power 
to our pleadings. The effectual prayers of all ages 
have been offered by men of like passions with us. 
The terms of prayer banish no humble soul from 
the mercy-seat. From the voice of prayer let in- 
sincerity and pride and hypocrisy refrain. But 
the empty may come for fulness, the poor for 
riches, the blind for sight, the weak for strength, 
and the guilty for forgiveness. 

Do we need the aid of the Spirit ? If earthly 

13 



194 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

fathers, being evil, know how to give good gifts 
unto their children, '^ how much more shall your 
heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to them that 
ask him ?^' Luke xi, 13, 



CHAPTER XII. 

EJLIJAS ON MOUNT JEEOMEB, 

WHAT strange minglings of strength and weak- 
ness, of boldness and timidity, of confidence 
and despondency, of joy and grief make up the 
varied experience of our human life ! How little 
can we anticipate in one hour of hope and gladness 
how great may be the reverses and the disappoint- 
ments of the next ! The heart is like a pendulum, 
if not in its regularity, yet in its restless movings, 
and we are prone to pass easily from one extreme to 
another. Apparent success and fair prospects to- 
day fill us with exultation, but the morrow may rise 
with dark and threatening clouds, and with sinking 
spirits we forget not only our prospects and our 
promises, but our pressing duties; our faith fails, 
and our heavy hands hang down. 

Elijah^s victory on Carmel seemed almost com- 
plete. With one loud shout the assembled people 
had acknowledged Jehovah^s supremacy, and their 
hearty congratulations sounded in the prophet's ears 
like a return from their apostasy. He now antici- 
pated the speedy re-establishment of the ancient 
faith with all its blessings. The chief mischief- 

195 



196 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

makers in Israel^ whose abominable idolatries had 
separated between the people and their God^ seemed 
to have lost their power. Ahab seemed subdued, 
and though Jezebel yet lived, the prophets of Baal 
lay in their inglorious bed. Not only were the 
people with the prophet in this great movement, 
but grand tokens of the divine blessing were not 
wanting. In gracious answer to the prophet's 
prayer, God had sent a welcome rain upon the deso- 
lated land, and Elijah might well think that both 
awe and gratitude would bring back the nation to 
the fear and the service of their covenant Lord. 
The prophet, after these severe years of trial, was at 
length triumphant. His commission from on high 
was sealed ; his success w^as a direct blessing from 
heaven : not only the witnesses on Carmel, but the 
whole land, refreshed by the welcome torrents, 
knew now^ the faith and the God of Elijah, and it 
is no wonder that his hopes were full and strong. . 
His ardent mind saw before him a rapid and tri- 
umphant career, to the overthrow of iniquity and 
to the destruction of every idolatrous altar and 
emblem in Israel. 

Filled with these sanguine hopes, the prophet 
girded up his loins, and even in the midst of the 
storm outran the chariot of Ahab as he hurried to 
Jezreel. This is a common method in the East of 
showing respect to official rank. No matter how 
furiously a chariot is driven, men, with girded 
loins, keep just in advance of the horses, and this 



ELIJAH ON MOUNT HOR^IB. 197 

for many miies. The distance from Carmel to 
Jezreel is variously given by different writers at five, 
twelve and sixteen miles,* and the prophet could 
scarcely have done this but for strength given him 
for the purpose. '^ The hand of the Lord was 
upon Elijah/^ Doubtless the intention of this was 
to give honour and respect to Ahab in the eyes of 
the nation. In all the Scriptures great care is 
taken to maintain the respect due to the civil 
authorities. Even a weak and wicked king, whose 
measures Elijah reproves and opposes, is still to be 
honoured, so long as he retains a monarch's place. 
So Samuel declared to Saul that God had rejected 
him, yet he honoured him before the people. So 
Ahab was here honoured by Elijah. The king's 
plans had just been thwarted by the prophet; the 
natural tendency would be to weaken the people's 
respect for Ahab's authority and to degrade him in 
their eyes. Yet Elijah had no design ^' to weaken 
the government or to encourage rebellion." So he 
pays this tribute of extraordinary respect to the 
king. He would show that a man can be faithful 
to his God as a prophet, yet respectful and faithful 
to the rulers of the land as a subject ; that even 
those large favours from heaven have not made him 
too proud for a due submission to earthly authority, 
and that a man can be true to every duty Avithout 
becoming an enemy to those he must needs with- 
stand. 

^ The Land and the Book, ii. 226. 



198 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

It may be that Elijah's moderation seemed the 
weakness of the prophet in the eyes of his enemies, 
and was interpreted to his disadvantage. There 
are some minds that gather boldness, even to inso- 
lence, from every apparent yielding of those that 
oppose them ; a moderation in dealing with them 
only prolongs the strife. So may it have been with 
Elijah^s chief foe. AVe do not know in what man- 
ner or with what temper the king of Israel told 
his imperious queen of the great events on Carmel. 
As Ahab made no interference with all that Elijah 
did as he tarried at Carmel, and even stood by in 
the valley of Kishon till the work of destruction 
was finished, and returned to. Jezreel only at the 
bidding of the prophet, it seems likely that his 
pliant mind w^as disposed to submit to the way of 
the Lord^s servant, and that if left to himself he 
would not have dared to oppose a thorough reform- 
ation. But this was not the temper of Jezebel. 
She had looked with a careless eye upon Israel's 
desolation, but she heard with indignation that 
Elijah had slain the priests whom she had intro- 
duced into the kingdom and whom she had speci- 
ally protected. Congratulating her foresight that 
had saved the priests of Astarte, her more peculiar 
care, and misinterpreting the prophet's moderation, 
she resolved to avenge the slaughters already accom- 
plished. In her first wrath she sent a messenger, 
announcing to Elijah that she would require his 
life for those he had slain. 



ELIJAH ON MOUNT HOREB. 199 

With all her daring, we do not know that Jeze- 
bel would or could have carried out her threat. 
She did not touch him upon his return from Sinai, 
and now, certainly, if she had not feared the popu- 
lar feeling, she could as easily have sent to slay 
him as send to threaten him. But receiving her 
message, and knowing her cruel and imperious 
temper, Elijah was greatly afraid. We do not 
justify him in this. Here is the weakness of a 
good and great man. We look upon it with 
surprise, but we can see some reasons for it. 
Worn out with previous sufferings, perhaps ex- 
tending back through all the years of the famine; 
fatigued now by the toil and excitement of Carmel 
and Kishon and the hurried race to Jezreel, it is 
less strange that he was prepared for a disastrous 
reaction at the fierce message of the queen. But 
the new excitement nerves him to new exertion, and 
shows us new proof of the mind's power over the 
body. The prophet began immediately another 
journey. Perhaps it was with some deliberation, 
at least after he had escaped the scene of immediate 
danger. Yet he would make no needless delay. 
He left his servant, possibly because his lagging 
steps w^ould not keep pace with his impatient 
master, perhaps because he would not expose him 
to the sufferings he anticipated. His route lay 
directly through the kingdom of Judah, but per- 
haps Jehoshaphat was already closely allied to 
Israel, and Jezebel's enemy could find no rest even 



200 THE TRANSLATED PEOPHET. 

in the tribes that owned tlie God of Elijah as their 
God. 

Let us learn wisdom from the prophet's present 
circumstances. We are told lie icentfor Ms life. In 
the idiom of our language this expresses his fear 
for his life and his concern to save it. The original 
words may give a difterent sense. He went accord- 
ing to his own soul. Many understand this, ^' He 
took his own mind for it, and asked not counsel of 
the Lord.'' This he shows is folly and weakness 
and sin in wise and strong and holy men when left 
to themselves. Our strength is of God ; times of 
peril should draw us nearer to him, and that is an 
hour of true weakness when we forget to ask his 
help. We cannot but look upon Elijah now as a 
wanderer from the path of duty, and w^e should not 
think strange of his dejection and unhappiness. 
It may have been needful that the prophet should 
be humbled. He was a man of like passions as we 
are; there was danger that he would be exalted 
above measure by the abundance of his privileges, 
and he is allowed to feel his own weakness and to 
show the Church that "the best of men are but 
men." Is this complaining prophet the same man 
that faced Ahab as the true troubler of Israel, that 
called Israel to Carmel, and that slew Baal's 
prophets ? 

He hardly knew what to do or which way to 
turn. He went a day's journey into the wilderness, 
but met no man of the wandering Bedouins, and at 



ELIJAH ON MOUNT HOEEB. 201 

nighty faint and hungry^ sought the best shelter he 
could find. In these deserts grows a kind of broom 
tree — here called the juniper — retaining in the 
Arabic substantially the same name here given to 
it in the Hebrew. The ancients believed that no 
serpent would touch this shrub^ and that a man 
might safely sleep under it. Though the straggling 
bushes cast but a miserable shade, it is the best 
afforded in the desert, and the tent of the Arab is 
ever pitched by them for a shade by day and to 
protect them from the wind by night.* 

Despondency seemed at its depth, and we need 
not look for sane or consistent words. The prayer 
of Carmel and the murmuring of the wilderness 
seem like salt w^ater and fresh from the same foun- 
tain. Yet what a contradiction ! A man flying 
for life wishes to die ; one who could not risk the 
post of duty is willing to perish in the desert; but 
for his closing words we would say that here is the 
exercise of only a petulant, unsubmissive temper. 
We do not doubt that a truly pious mind may even 
long or pray to die, but men may complain of life 
while by no means ready for death. There is no 
better proof of likeness to God than a willingness, 
indeed, a preference, to depart, coupled still with a 
readiness to abide in the flesh so long as God may 
please. To shrink from duty or suffering, to wish 
death selfishly, as an escape from providential 

^ Eobinson^s Bib. Researclies, i. 299, 302 ; Poors Synopsis ; 
The Land and the Book, ii. 436. 



202 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

responsibilities, to find our reasons on this side of 
death rather than beyond it, may give no proof of 
piety, but rather show a wicked and unsubmissive 
flying in the face of God. Some have thought, 
however, from the closing words of Elijah, " I am 
no better than my fathers,^' that he was made aAvare 
of God^s design to translate him without dying. 
This would change the whole tone of his complaint. 
The language then w^ould express humility rather 
than complaining. He had fled from Jezebel be- 
cause the use of due means to preserve his life was 
still proper, even though he was divinely protected. 
Yet why should such an one as he find any more 
honourable departure from life than that given to 
his fathers, who had all turned to dust? 

But we cannot receive this interpretation. We 
judge that Elijah knew nothing of the glorious 
day still so far before him. Here is folly, not wis- 
dom — murmuring, not submission. Yet his Lord 
and ours is merciful and gracious, long-suffering 
and of great forbearance. He visits his people's 
iniquities with the rod of his chastisement, but his 
loving-kindness he suffers not to fail. Forward to 
die is not always fit to die.* Elijah laid down to 
sleep, not to die ; but an angel touched him and 
awaked him twice, giving him food to eat for a 
great journey before him. Knowing the wants of his 
people in advance, God often gives suitable prepa- 
ration for coming trials and duties. Elijah went in 
^ M. Henrv. 



ELIJAH ON MOUNT HOREB. 203 

the strength of that meat forty days. As Sinai is 
but a few days' journey from Beersheba, some have 
conjectured that these forty days include the entire 
absence of the prophet from Israel. As in the case 
of Moses and of our Lord, in this long period of 
fasting he was sustained by supernatural strength. 
He came to the mountain so famous for the giving 
of the law, and dwelt there in a cave. The super- 
stition of far later times affects to know the spot, 
and a chapel has been built to mark the cave of 
Elijah's sojourn. 

But the solitude of Sinai differs far from the 
solitude of Cherith. Then^ Elijah was doing the 
Lord's will ; 7iow^ the divine voice demands, " What 
doest thou here ?" God assigns to each of his people 
his duty and his place; and every one, watchful of 
his bidding and his providence, should be ever 
ready to give an answer to his inquiries, ^^Why 
are you here ?" and " What are you doing here ?" 
The objects we have in view, and the leadings of 
Providence to place us where we are, often mark 
the difference between duty and transgression. A 
Christian may mingle with worldly and ungodly 
companions for inclination's sake, through desires 
for greedy gain and through love to the world's 
vain pleasures, and this shows a wayward and 
unrighteous spirit. But he may mingle in the 
world's most busy and most deceitful engagements; 
he may be thrown into collision with the world's 
worst men and worst vices ; he may be in the world, 



204 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

and yet not of the world, because, like a pilgrim 
upon the great highway of life, his path must needs 
be through Vanity Fair. In judging of our 
place as pleasing or displeasing to God, we must 
ask, How came we here, and what are we seeking 
and doing? Jonah was once tossed upon the angry 
billows of the Mediterranean, and Paul was in a 
longer and severer storm upon the same sea ; but 
the one was a fugitive from duty, and must be cast 
out for the safety of the ship, and the other was 
himself the safety of the vessel and the crew. 
Elijah is not a Paul but a Jonah in the desolation 
of Sinai, and God asks '^ What doest thou here ?^' 

In reply to this inquiry the prophet pours out 
his complaint of jealousy for the Lord his God, 
Sent forth with a divine commission and zealous 
for its success, he had been deeply disappointed at 
the slow progress of the reformation in Israel and 
at the many reverses attending it. His warnings 
had been of little influence ; the famine had not 
fully humbled the people, and even the solemn 
scenes of Carmel and the death of BaaFs priests 
had accomplished less than he had looked for. 
Even after all those things Jezebel seemed as im- 
placable as ever ; he had been forced by her threats 
to escape from the land, and to his disheartened 
mind, the work of reform seemed as hopeless as at 
any former time. 

The prophet's state of mind, thus even expostu- 
lating with God, is the more worthy of our consid-* 



ELIJAH ON MOUNT HOREB. 205 

ation because it is often thus with ourselves. We 
mourn our existing desolations ; we make earnest 
efforts and offer fervent prayers for a season of 
revival ; and it may be our hopes are excited by 
some tokens of awakening interest, by proof of the 
law arousing the conscience, by the tear of kindling 
penitence, or by flattering promises of duty. On a 
sudden our hopes fail. The promised goodness 
vanishes like the morning cloud or the early dew. 
Perhaps ministers, and those w4io feel special re- 
sponsibility for the work of Zion, are peculiarly 
prone to these discouragements. They make zeal- 
ous but unsuccessful efforts to promote religion ; 
but those upon whom they have depended stand 
back ; their zeal, like that of Elijah, brings trouble 
upon themselves ; none around them seem to reach 
the proper standard of duty ; everything goes back- 
ward, and their jealousy for the honour of the Lord 
seems in vain. In the midst of general indifference 
we view the cause of piety through the gloom of 
our own feelings; we judge harshly as Elijah did, 
and hastily conclude that there is no piety where 
there is no open zeal for the Lord. So, if we believe 
our own croakings, we live in the worst of times, 
and we are constantly lamenting the days that are 
past. Let us here learn that thougli we may often 
have cause of sorrow, we must guard against despon- 
dency. 

For human pride and unbelief have more to do 
with such dejection than a pure jealousy for the 



206 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

Lord of Hosts. To say nothing of possible defec- 
tion in ourselves when iniquity abounds, as the 
Lord forbears to reproach Elijah's timidity in fleeing 
from Jezreel, there are misconceptions in these times 
of dejecting unbelief that dishonour God as much as 
they distress us. We have indulged in reverie and 
imagination rather than in the sober anticipations 
of faith ; we have presumed to mark out in advance 
the pathway of the Lord's workings; and he, who 
leads his people by ways they know not and who 
will not give his glory to another, has disappointed 
our expectations. We need to learn, with the pro- 
phet, that God forsakes not his work when he ' 
adopts not our measures for accomplishing it. Ours 
is finite, and his infinite widom ; we see a little — 
how very little ! — and he sees everything ; we are 
impatient, but he fails not. 

That the prophet might correct his own errors 
under divine teachings, he was called forth upon 
the mountain, and the Lord passed by. The place 
of itself and from its associations was awe-inspiring, 
and now Elijah saw fearful things. A tempestuous 
storm rent the very rocks of Sinai ; this was suc- 
ceeded by the terrible shocks of an earthquake, and 
this by a fire — i. 6., it may be by an awful thunder- 
storm, in which the lightnings seemed to fill the 
air and the mountain with their angry flashings. 
These were grand displays of Jehovah's power, yet 
the Lord was not in the tempest, the earthquake or 
the fire, as he was in that which followed. A still, 



ELIJAH ON MOUNT HOREB. 20T 

small voice struck the prophet with awe ; he wrapped 
his face in his mantle^ and retired in humility to 
the entrance of the cave. Still, he understood not 
the vision, for when the inquiry was renewed, What 
doest thou here, Elijah? he renewed his language 
of self-justification, complaining and unbelief. 

This scene- upon Sinai was not for his eye alone 
who looked upon its terrific grandeur. These ap- 
pearances may instruct believers in all ages Avhen, 
like this prophet, they are disheartened and bewild- 
ered in view of God's dealings with his people. 
Human nature is sanguine and zealous. We would 
adopt measures for the work of the Lord that will 
carry all before them and be rapidly and surely 
successful. God's ways are not man's ways; his 
gospel works otherwise, '' cometh not with obser- 
vation," and is more mildly effectual. It may have 
fearful preparations and resistless energy, yet the 
kingdom of God is within man. Elijah's bold 
words and fearful judgments had failed to reform 
Israel ; the Lord was their author, yet he was not 
in the wind, the earthquake or the fire. We sup- 
pose the vision teaches us the insufficiency of law 
and judgment to do the needed work in the Church 
of God or in the soul of man. The words and 
w^orkings of Elijah were the truth and power of 
God ; they had broken Israel almost in pieces, but 
they had not wrought the needful penitence, and 
in this sense the Lord' was not in his own judgments. 
You may take a rock of ice in midwinter, and shiver 



208 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

it into a thousand fragments ; but every minute par- 
ticle still is ice, and ice it will remain so long as the 
freezing air is around it. To melt the ice you need 

the warm breezes and the unclouded sun ; it will 
dissolve sooner if first it is broken to pieces, but 
the power that melts is, in its very nature, different 
from the power that breaks. Elijah stood forth 
amidst all these terrors, but that quiet voice filled 
him with reverence. Thus might he learn that the 
thunders of the law must be succeeded by the 
voice of grace to bring back ajDOstate Israel to the 
service of their God. 

The law of God is not declared in vain, nor are 
the judgments of God useless, yet theirs is a pre- 
paratory work which love and mercy must complete. 
In Xew Testament lano:uao:e, "the law is our 
schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ.'' Gal. iii. 24. 
After this lesson the prophet was encouraged by 
new promises of the divine favour, which, however, 
could find their accomplishment only through years 
of patient toil. Thus he received better views of 
his duty and of the divine working. God's judg- 
ments were not to be wholly withdrawn, for many 
in Israel were incorrigible. So Hazael was to 
scourge the kinoxlom ; Jehu was to be the destrover 
of Allah's house, and the word of Elisha was to 
be a savour of death to the rebellious that escaped 
the edge of the sword. But quiet instruction and 
the gentle dews of mercy were' to be the chief means 
of w^orking good in Israel. Elijah went back to 



I 



ELIJAH ON MOUNT HOREB. 209 

take up unobtrusive but important labours among 
his people. For the next ten years associated with 
Elisha, and suffering no serious molestation from 
Jezebel, he was engaged in establishing schools of 
instruction for younger prophets, who should take 
the place of those slain in the persecutions. Surely, 
nothing that human effort can accomplish for the 
Church of God is more important than to bring 
forward a race of well-trained ministers, and the 
schools of the prophets, as they are for Zion^s up- 
building, may well be Zion^s care. The results of 
these years we may trace in the history of the two 
prophets whose names must henceforward be asso- 
ciated. Elijah's usefulness was doubtless greater, 
though he was less before the public notice. When 
all was done that God had promised on Sinai, the 
efforts of Elijah were successful; for Jehu's sword 
cut off forever the remains of Baal worship in both 
Judah and Israel. 

Let Sinai, and the scenes the prophet saw there, 
rise before us to teach us lessons of profit. Let 
them teach us, indeed, that we need to witness no 
such wonders, and that our natural longing for the 
wondrous and the miraculous is vain. How we 
would like to see a miracle! How we undervalue 
the still small voice of instruction. Yet the prin- 
ciples o^ the gospel are of essential interest, and 
God's best gifts are permanent for all time. Plis 
truth to enlighten, his grace to convert, are better 
than the powers that heal the sick or raise the dead. 

14 



210 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

The Lord is not in the wonderful thing as he is in 
the quiet prompting of the Spirit. So let us judge 
of the workings of law and grace. The law of 
God speaks terrors to sinful men. When it was 
spoken on Sinai even Moses feared. But though 
they saw such evidences of divine power, the hearts 
of the people were hardened. So God's law still 
arrests and awakens the conscience, and leads sinful 
men to anxious concern for their salvation. But 
something otherwise than terror must bring men to 
true repentance. The quiet voice of mercy in the 
gospel speaks peace by atoning blood. Even when 
the terrors addressed to the soul of man are truthful 
and legitimate, the sinful heart resists and rebels. 
The love of Christ and the grace of the Spirit must 
win the soul. When the heart melts, it is brought 
nearest to God. The sweetest times of devotion to 
the believer are when he draws nearest to the foot 
of the cross, and the most powerful influence to 
affect the souls of guilty men comes in these quiet 
forms. The still small voice of the Spirit, and the 
urgency of his love who bled for us on Calvary, 
have power beyond the awakening of law and 
judgment. 

Thus may we explain things at Avhich we have 
often wondered, and which have filled us w^ith dis- 
couragements, and with what Elijah here calls 
^•jealousy for the Lord God of Hosts.^^ We have 
seen men under the pressure of severe affliction. The 
heavy hand of God was upon them, and they could 



I 



ELIJAH ON MOUNT HOREB. 211 

but acknowledge it. Their hearts seemed subdued ; 
they vowed to live differently, they bent the knee 
in prayer, they promised faithfully to serve and 
fear him. But as the clouds passed oflF, and the 
sunlight of prosperity shone upon them, they forgot 
their serious thoughts, left their earnest vows unful- 
filled, and were even more regardless of God than 
before. We have seen the sinner trembling under 
the convictions of his conscience, earnestly praying 
for deliverance from sin and hell, and making 
solemn pledges of devotion to the cause of God ; 
but relief has been found without coming to Christ. 
So there results a growing indifference, a life that 
shows no power of religion, perhaps a wide depart- 
ure from the way of righteousness. We have seen 
the young promise of piety springing thus simply 
from an awakened conscience bring forth early 
declension, and grieving our hearts with sad fore- 
bodings of apostasy. Sometimes a community or 
a congregation is moved by religious emotions that 
seem of no ordinary power. Anxiety is awakened, 
serious inquiries and earnest prayers give proof of 
uncommon interest; perhaps many join in loud 
professions of zeal for the Lord, as all Israel 
shouted as the fire fell on Elijah's altar. But even 
a zeal awakened by God's law and by the labours 
of a true prophet, may be the short-lived outbreak 
of natural feeling, that falls far short of gracious 
emotion. Nothing is more common, nothing is 
more dangerous, than to mistake conviction for con- 



212 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

version. There is no salvation by the law and by 
terror, but only by the gospel and by love. It is 
not enough to strike the rock of ice with the ham- 
mer of Moses, or even to shiver it to pieces. The 
ice must be melted. Break it indeed, but melt it 
also. There are terrors enough in perdition, but it 
is a sorrow that works only death, because the rays 
of love pierce not through the gloomy clouds of 
despair that gather over the abode of the lost. All 
the sorrows in the world cannot make a Christian. 
Judgments and sorrows, law and terrors can never 
be more than guides to lead us, or scourges to drive 
us away from the world and self to Christ. Divine 
grace, especially in the cross, must win the heart to 
love ; and " he that loveth is born of God.^^ We 
are prone to desire feeling, to put too much stress 
upon it, especially feelings of anguish, remorse and 
terror. The love of Jesus and simple teachings of 
him win the heart to God. 

God still speaks to man, not audibly, yet truly 
and individually. What doest thou here? He 
may speak in terrors to the unrenewed mind, and 
no fears that a sinful soul entertains are beyond the 
fearful reality of divine wrath upon the ungodly. 
But the soul that only trembles is still unsaved. 
He may single you out, place your soul as truly 
before him as Elijah stood solitary upon the mount, 
and may address you as it were by name. Saving 
religion must needs be personal religion. If you 
have no personal religion, you have none ; if you are 



ELIJAH ON MOUNT HOREB. 213 

not personally prepared to stand before God, you are 
not at all prepared. The truth that does us good 
is taken personally home to the heart ; sometimes, 
indeed, this searching word pierces like the keen 
blade of the warrior. When the attention is fixed, 
when we hear or read as we ought, when earth 
loses its power over us and eternity presses home 
its solemn claims, the feeblest sermon seems a 
pointed arrow, directly reaching the heart, as 
though sent from the quiver of the Almighty. 
And why should we not always thus read and thus 
hear? By this law your conscience must be 
awakened if ever awakened ; by this gospel your 
soul must be won if ever won; upon this Jesus 
you must believe if ever you exercise saving faith ; 
and by the Spirit of grace must you be converted 
if ever converted. Let every man's thoughts turn 
in upon his own soul, for God truly asks, and will 
one day demand. What doest thou here ? "I gave 
thee being ; I allotted thy land and age and sphere 
of life ; I gave thee privileges innumerable ; by a 
thousand quiet voices, through my word and my 
providence and my Spirit, I called thee to my 
service; art thou serving me now, or hast thou 
taken frivolous occasion to flee from the post of 
duty ?'' Let conscience reply. 

But, above all, let Elijah reconcile for us the law 
and the gospel. The storm, the earthquake and 
the fire are first ; then comes the quiet voice. While 
the law is not effectual, yet is it not useless. Let 



214 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

US neither deny its truth nor brave its terrors ; yet, 
let us learn not lessons contradictory, but lessons 
further and lessons better. The awakened soul 
often strives for deeper convictions. He wishes to 
hear fearful discourses ; he would gladly be filled 
with remorse. But anguish cannot save the soul ; 
relief must come from Christ, and convictions are 
valuable only as they awaken us to flee. As the 
Lord was not in the storm, he may not be in the 
keenest pangs of remorse, but the full gospel of his 
mercy is embraced in the single line : " Believe on 
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.'^ 



II 



CHAPTER XIII. 

AHAB AND BEXHAJDAJD, 

WE do not know that Elijah literally performed 
the duties assigned to him at Horeb, in either 
of the particulars. We can hardly think that either 
he, or any Israelite commissioned by him, actually 
anointed a man to be king over a foreign land, 
whose reign began many years later by the murder 
of his sovereign ; we know that Jehu was anointed 
at the command of Elisha, and we have no record 
of any formal anointing by Elisha. We suppose 
that the word " anointing'^ is here used merely to 
signify the exercise of these offices, and the charge 
to Elijah simply declares to him the future events 
that should both bless and punish Israel. By the 
labours of Elisha as a prophet taking Elijah^s place, 
by the sword of Hazael as an open and cruel enemy, 
by the power of Jehu, a reforming king, should 
the great work be done for which now the prophet 
longed. The chief matter here taught is in the 
truth implied, that the period needful to complete 
the national reform should extend beyond the life- 
time of Elijah, needing the labours of a successor 
to complete it. '' He that believeth shall not make 

215 



216 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

haste/' The prophet's labours were only unfinished, 
not unsuccessful. 

No doubt, Elijah was much surprised at the 
assurance now added to this, that there were seven 
thousand in Israel who had never bowed the knee 
to Baal. While the prophet thought he stood alone, 
it was doubtless with much of that despondent 
feeling that is prone to look on the dark side of 
things. He had not allowed himself to reflect upon 
things he must have known ; for example, he had 
forgotten the faith and zeal of Obadiah ; and the 
divine reproof is the more remarkable because the 
Apostle Paul quotes it, and places it before us in 
the form of a general truth. We may take courage 
to believe that the darkest times are not as degene- 
rate as they seem, for God fails not to keep a rem- 
nant faithful to him in seasons of prevailing apostasy. 
Seven thousand in Israel had refused to kiss the 
image of Baal. How they kept themselves, and 
how pure they kept themselves, the Scriptures do 
not affirm. Some may have been, though of hum- 
bler name and office, not less bold and decided than 
Elijah himself, and for this, fugitives in the dens 
and caves of the land, and fed by the care of many 
an Obadiah. Some may have owed their safety to 
their obscurity; the Lord's poor are often the 
Lord's faithful. Some may have made seeming 
and even undue compliances to the prevalent cus- 
toms. Yet, indeed, the entire seven thousand care- 
fully avoided the services of idolatry in heart and 



AHAB AND BENHADAD. 217 

in fact, bowed only to Jehovah, and were ready to 
sympathize with the suffering cause of their God, 
all receiving his approbation who sees in secret. 
Perhaps there never has been a persecution so 
thorough and searching that hundreds have not 
escaped, and escaped in their integrity from the 
toils of their pursuers. It never has been esteemed 
the duty of those who fear God to defy and court 
the fury of persecution. Sometimes the boldness 
that denounces tyranny and dies under its fury 
may be justified ; usually, a calm, quiet waiting at 
the post of duty is what is required. In the early 
persecutions of Christianity, as we have before no- 
ticed,* many of those who courted sufferings w^ere 
not prepared to abide them ; the grace of God did 
not sustain the presumptuous. ^' We therefore praise 
not those,^^ says a writing of the early Church, 
^Hhat voluntarily surrender themselves (to their 
persecutors) ; for so we are not taught in the gos- 
pel.^'t Open resistance to Ahab would have availed 
nothing. Why should others needlessly set lawless 
power at defiance, when God^s own word sends 
Elijah, first to the solitude of Cherith, and then to 
the exile of Zarephath? Silently the faithful people 
suffered. Many of them may have maintained 
their secret services, may have met together. 

" Canopied by midnights starry dome, 
On hillside or lone glen, 

* Chapter IV. f Meander's Church History, i. 110. 



218 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

To hear the counsels of his holy word 
Pledged to each other and their common Lord." 

That so many as seven thousand should remain 
faithful is no great wonder in the light of similar 
things in far later times. Xo one doubts the faith- 
fulness of the suifering Presbyterians in Scotland ; 
yet, after nearly thirty years of cruel persecution, 
after it seemed as if the whole nation must have 
been dragooned into prelacy, the Revolution of 1688 
no sooner began than the Presbyterian party had 
immediately a majority in the national councils. 
Of course not all these had been faithful, yet a 
very large number had been. And we have a most 
interesting example in far later times. In 1818 
the London Missionary Society began the labours 
of its missionaries in the island of Madagascar. 
After only ten years' efforts persecutions began, and 
the missionaries were banished. Yet, though the 
persecutions lasted more than thirty years, though 
the native converts were left w^ithout foreign teach- 
ers or experienced counsellors, though thousands 
suffered degradation, fines, convict-labour, slavery, 
imprisonment and death, though every available 
means was adopted to suppress Christianity, the 
praying people grew stronger rather than weaker. 
At the end of the first ten years, from ten to fifteen 
thousand of the people had learned to read, yet not 
many — some missionaries say but fifty — were pro- 
fessed converts.* Yet this little band grew to 
"^ Liverpool Conference, 334. 



II 



AHAB AND BENHADAD. 219 

thousands without public worship of any kind, and 
their faithfulness was tested by the severest trials. 
But the recent changes in that island, favourable 
to the toleration of Christianity, and welcoming 
back the missionaries, show a number of faithful 
disciples more remarkable than the remnant of be- 
lieving Israel in the days of Elijah.* 

Thinking it strange that Elijah knew so little of 
these brethren, or that even despondency could 
think so slightly of them, we may still rejoice that 
the Lord knew his own. He always knows them ; 
he knows how to deliver them out of temptation ; 
he will show many faithful ones at the last day, to 
the surprise of the assembled worlds. 

The call of Elisha immediately succeeded Elijah's 
departure from Horeb. He was, perhaps, the son 
of a wealthy man ; it may be that his father's fields 
had not been ploughed at all for the years of the 
drought, yet that twelve ploughs w^ere going at 
once may have been according to present customs 
of that land, where the farmers join together to 
break up a field in companies like that here 
described.! Elisha understood at once the sig- 
nificance of the prophet's mantle laid upon him, 
and, though the call was to no easy service, he 
readily obeyed it. Henceforward he was the pupil 
and associate of the elder prophet. Here the nar- 
rative suddenly breaks off from all mention of the 

* Ellis's Madagascar — Three Visits. Public papers. 
t The Laiid and the Book, i. 208. 



220 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

associated prophets. Elijah was encouraged by the 
divine promise and by the cheerful piety of Elisha ; 
and their services to Israel, though quietly pur- 
sued, were doubtless of great value. The narrative 
bids us turn aside for a brief consideration of the 
Avars of Ahab with the Syrians. 

Here the beginning appears of the prediction 
that Hazael shall join with Jehu and Elisha to 
scourge guilty Israel. Yet Ahab and his people 
are not divinely punished, whether they are guilty 
or not; rather, every opportunity is afforded to show 
whether they will or will not fear God ; and these 
first conflicts between Israel and Syria, through the 
manifest favour of God, issue in favour of Ahab, 
The kingdom of Israel was greatly weakened at 
this time, and the Syrians were strong. Formerly 
immense armies could be levied in Israel ; now the 
two armies marshalled in successive years by Ahab 
are described, first, as " seven thousand men,'^ and 
next as ^' two little flocks of kids.'^ 1 Kings, xx. 
15, 27. The king of Syria took advantage of 
Israel's feebleness. Gathering an irresistible army, 
with thirty-two petty chieftains under him, he ad- 
vanced and laid siege to Ahab's capital, and Ahab, 
conscious of his inability to contend with him, was 
disposed to grant every possible concession. Yet 
so exacting was Benhahad that despair rather than 
hope bade Israel resist. We can easily understand 
the scene ; the scornful, boasting challenge of 
Benhadad, and the temperate, yet manly reply of 



AHAB AND BENHADAD. . 221 

Ahab. We feel an unusual measure of respect for 
Ahab, notwithstanding we know his wickedness, 
when we read his wise message : ^^ Let not him that 
girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that 
putteth it off/' 

Just- here the mercy of God comes to help the 
ruler of his people, and to give Ahab another 
opportunity to forsake wicked dependence and to 
fear Jehovah. An unknown prophet — perhaps one 
of the earliest pupils from Elijah's newly-founded 
school — assured the king of success, and directed 
him to marshal ^his young men and to lead them in 
person to the conflict. No longer relying on his 
walls, the king went boldly forth to battle; and 
perhaps the very fewness of his men, giving pre- 
sumption to the enemy, was the providential means 
of giving him the more easy victory. Benhadad 
w^as guilty of the folly, so common yet so inex- 
cusable in military commanders, of indulging in 
drunkenness. But the despised army of Israel 
was victorious. A panic began in the Syrian 
camp ; the whole were soon in a disastrous flight, 
and the vain-glorious Benhadad was himself forced 
to flee. 

The same prophet then gave notice to Ahab that 
he might expect a renewal of the conflict in the 
ensuing year. Doubtless the Syrians were led to 
this from mortification at their shameful flight, from 
the consciousness that Ahab had no forces to with- 
stand them, and from the belief that only the God 



222 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

of Israel had wrested the victory from them. The 
heathen mythology^ numbering so many among the 
gods, with finite "powers and separate jurisdiction, 
gave the guardianship of particular places to dif- 
ferent deities. Knowing that Solomon^s temple 
was on Mount Zion, that the Israelites consecrated 
high places, perhaps that Elijah had brought down 
fire upon Carmel, and that their great defeat had 
been on the hills of Samaria, the Syrians concluded 
that Israel's God was a God of the hill country, 
and that upon other ground they could defeat 
them. This reasoning resulted in their renewed 
defeat. Jealous for his own honour, the Lord 
would not now allow them to succeed. Yet this 
time they acted with greater prudence. Setting 
aside the leaders whose birth rather than their 
abilities gave them command, they put tried and 
able commanders in their stead. When the armies 
met both sides were cautious. JS^either party ven- 
tured an attack for a week, though Ahab had the 
promise of victory ; this was to be secured by pru- 
dence and valour, and gave him no reason to act 
rashly. Considering the immense disparity of the 
armies, the hesitation on the part of the Syrians 
proved their fears for the result, and showed that 
the moral advantage lay with Ahab. The second 
slaughter was even more terrible than the first, and 
was greatly increased, perhaps, by an earthquake 
which overthrew the city of Aphek, in which the 
fatigued army of Benhadad sought repose, and 



AHAB AND BENHADAD. 223 

completed the overwhelming disaster. 1 Kings xx. 
30. This singular destruction of the remnant of 
the Syrian army finds a remarkable illustration in 
the overthrow of the town of Safed, January 1, 
1837. This town is situated exactly like Aphek, 
so that the ruin produced by an earthquake would 
destroy almost all within the walls ; and, indeed, at 
Safed scarcely one in a hundred escaped.* 

Nothing now remained for the haughty king of 
Syria but to make humble submission to Ahab and 
to secure the best terms he could. And in duty to 
his own people Ahab should have made such terms 
as would have destroyed the warlike character of 
the Syrian kingdom, for the maintenance of future 
peace between the two nations. They dwelt too 
near, and stood on terms of too great hostility, to 
make any mild measures safe for Israel. Long 
after this did Israel pay dearly for the guilty folly 
of Ahab after these triumphs had been given to 
him. Benhadad sought opportunity to recover 
strength, and by his flatteries Ahab gave all he 
could desire. They speak here among the Syrians, 
of the kings of Israel as merciful kings. Doubt- 
* less, in comparison with other warriors, this repu- 
tation was well deserved. The tide of war usually 
knows little of mercy ; ancient wars were more 
cruel than modern; ancient warriors might often 
be described as Homer described the great hero 
Achilles, as ^^ prompt, passionate, inexorable and 
* The Land and the Book, i. 427-433; ii. 53, 54. 



224 THE TRAXSLATED PROPHET. 

fierce.^^ The severities of the Hebrews against the 
Caiiaanites were different from their usual wars of 
defence, and doubtless they deserved the character 
here ascribed to them, especially as compared with 
heatheu warriors. The government of ancient 
Israel was constitutional ; the peace and liberty of 
the citizens were in general well secured, and per- 
haps just at this time the cruelties of Jezebel had 
produced a reaction that forced Ahab to pay more 
regard to law. Besides, this king, with many war- 
like qualities, was of a pliant and easy temper, and 
now, approached by flattering lips, he sacrificed his 
well-earned advantages and the welfare of his king- 
dom to the deceitful lip of an implacable foe. 

The ambassadors of the king of Syria came to 
Ahab with ropes about their necks, in token of com- 
plete submission. This is the first mention in the 
Bible of this significant act of subjection, but upon 
the Egyptian monuments, still existing, figures with 
ropes about their necks are frequently seen. These 
men were prepared for almost anything, and ex- 
pected severe terms, but they were ready to catch at 
any intimation of favour from their unexpected con- 
queror. How easily Benhadad forgot his former 
insolence I how ready was he to seek a clemency so 
little deserved ! And now, as Ahab had won his 
victories by especial divine help, he should have 
made his treaties with the divine counsel. But to 
be addressed in flattering words by a great mon- 
aiTli made him neglectfid of high public interests. 



AHAB AND BENHADAD. 225 

Advantages of the greatest importance to liim and 
his kingdom he threw gratuitously and recklessly 
away. Speaking of Benhadad as a friend and a 
brother in unfortunate circumstances, the crafty 
Syrian counsellors assured him that he was a 
brother in rank and feeling, and induced him to 
send for him. Pie received him to sit by him in 
his chariot, and, it would seem without waiting for 
a word from the vanquished monarch, dictated a 
most disastrous treaty. Indeed he gave Benhadad 
all the benefits of these two great victories, and 
enabled his immediate successors to humble Israel 
at their feet. 

There is a peculiar ambiguity in the conversation 
between the two kings which gives us our only 
knowledge of the treaty. We do not know that 
the Syrians had ever made streets in Samaria, i. e., 
had the privilege of building up a certain portion 
of the city to be governed by their own laws, as 
now^ in the East certain sects occupy quarters of 
their own. If this is the meaning here, Ahab not 
only gives too easy terms, but, contrary to true 
Israel itish policy, makes arrangements for a closer 
intercourse between the nations. But in the Eng- 
lish Bible the proper names are supplied, and some 
interpreters understand Ahab to be the speaker all 
the w^ay through. This treaty, on this understand- 
ing of it, restores every advantage and encourages 
Benhadad to build up his capital city. It seems 
almost incredibh' tJiat Ahab's folly would go so far 

la 



226 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

as tlils^ yet we know that he was wickedly recreant 
to his duty, and that this treaty was so contrary to 
the divine will that it brought upon Ahab the 
severe displeasure of the God of Israel. 

The guilty king was soon made acquainted with 
the divine displeasure. His reproof was self-pro- 
nounced. It came through one of those symbolic 
actions, partaking of the nature of a parable, by 
which the ancient prophets sometimes led tlie con- 
science of an offender to see and pronounce upon 
his own guilt. A certain man of the sons of the 
prophets — perhaps a pu2iil from the school of 
Elijah — commanded a neighbour in the nam of 
the Lord to smite him. It was a strange request; 
we can hardly sympathize with a severe punish- 
ment laid upon one who refused to do this, perhaps 
from kindness of feeling ; yet it is no light thing to 
disobey the Lord's word by a prophet, and this dis- 
obedient man was slain by a lion. Another man 
was commanded, and did it, inflicting a severe hurt 
upon the prophet, as if he had suffered in the recent 
battle. Assuming the disguise of a wounded soldier 
— thus, on the one hand deceiving Ahab, that he 
might not penetrate his design, yet, on the other, 
giving him the benefit of any kindly sympathies 
in the king's own heart, while he was really decid- 
ing his own case — the prophet waited by a road 
where the king was to pass, and set before him a 
parable in the light of an appeal to his justice. He 
represented himself as having been engaged in the 



AHAB AND BENHADAD. 227 

late battle, and that another— of course a command- 
ing officer — had given a prisoner into his charge, 
declaring at the same time that he would be held 
responsible for the prisoner. The narrator pro- 
ceeded to say that while he was engaged in various 
things, before he was aware of it, the prisoner had 
made his escape. He did not intend to let him go, 
he had not even noticed just when he did go, he 
may even have regretted his escape. But he was 
gone ; and now the wounded soldier appeals to the 
king to know whether he must be held responsible 
for this event. 

The king easily decides the case. If there was 
anything in the suffering appearance of the soldier 
to incline him to a lenient judgment, he allows it 
to have no influence. He knows that the duty of 
of this soldier was to guard the prisoner ; he should 
not have allowed other things to turn his attention 
from his main duty ; and to plead that he neglected 
his duty through attention to other things was but 
to aggravate his offence. So he declares that by 
his own narrative the soldier has passed judgment 
upon himself. 

How great was his dismay when this appellant 
puts off his disguise, appears before him as a prophet 
of the Lord, and addresses him as Nathan did 
David, " Thou art the man !^' In applying the para- 
ble the prophet makes the recent conflict one be- 
tween Benhadad and the God of Israel, whom he 
had insulted ; he reminds Ahab that a prisoner of 



n ^^' 



228 THE TllANSLATED PIIOPIIET. 

no ordinary rank had been put into his hands, and 
that he had let him go; and now his own lips had 
decided the w^ickedness, the responsibility and the 
doom of the case. And the judgment was fulfilled. 
As soon after his disasters as he could gather 
strength to do so, Benhadad renewed the war, and 
instead of reciprocating the clemency of Ahab, he 
gave express orders to his captains to care chiefly 
for the destruction of the kino; of Israel ; and thou^-h 
Ahab disguised himself in order to escape their 
special notice, he perished in battle with the very 
king whom now he sends away upon so easy terms. 
Had the disastrous influence of the treaty stopped 
here, it had been less matter. But the wars between 
Israel and Syria continued long after this ; and es- 
pecially Hazael, the warlike successor of Benhadad, 
scourged the guilty people as had been declared to 
Elijah. 

The parable of this unknown prophet may re- 
mind us that men usually bear about with them 
the elements of truth, which, rightly used, may 
serve to convict them of their sins and follies. 
When our Lord rebukes the man who sees the 
mote in his neighbour's eye and overlooks the 
beam in his ovrn, he calls our thoughts specially 
to that deceitfulness of sin which often blinds a 
man to his own serious faults, and Torbids us ^^to 
see ourselves as others see us/' but also he re- 
proves this as not merely the man's misfortune, 
but as the proof of his insincerity and guilt. Men 



AIIAB AND BENHADAD. 229 

know enough to reprove their own faults, and they 
show this by the censure they cast upon others. 
The disposition to look at others and not at our- 
selves, to judge others harshly and ourselves len- 
iently, to shelter ourselves behind the follies of 
others, as though we were less responsible because 
they are guilty, is a disposition that belongs to 
every age. Yet every man knows enough of the 
princij)les of justice to decide rightly in all such 
cases when they are laid before him divested of 
their personal application. So the prophets, in 
ancient days, set forth the truth in parables, which 
secured the unbiassed judgment of their hearers, 
that the moral of the story might be the sinner's 
self-conviction. So Nathan came before the guilty 
David with such a narrative as aroused the king's 
indignation and led him to pronounce judgment 
upon his pitiless self. So this unknown prophet 
come to Ahab, and the monarch easily saw the 
guilt which, indeed, was his own. 

And if, from the very nature of a parable, we 
have significance here beyond the mere form of 
words in which it is clothed ; if we judge that a 
soldier must keep safe his charge, and be responsible 
even to his own life, not only for dismissing a 
prisoner, but as truly for suffering his escape by 
neglect ; if thus guilt and peril attend even heed- 
lessness, why should not every soul among us ajiply 
this principle to those immense responsibilities which 
our God has laid upon us, and the issues of which 



230 THE TKAXSLATED PROPHET. 

reach forward to the eternal world? Surely no 
authority of an officer over a soldier is more legiti- 
mate or irresistible than the divine rule over us; 
110 charge committed to a soldier's care can be 
more important in itself, or enforced by plainer 
intimations of what we should do and of what must 
result from our unfaithfulness; and no other en- 
gagements or interests, as compared with the great 
stake of the souFs salvation, have value enough to 
give even a plausible excuse for our neglected duty. 
In the great battle of life that is now going forward, 
and in which we all must bear a part, there has 
been committed to each one of us a charge of infi- 
nite importance. Let us make no enigma of this, 
but let each one say, as we may often have sung, 

"A charge to keep I have, 
A God to glorify ; 
A never-dying soul to save 
And fit it for the sky.'' 

And it may be true of some of us that up to this 
time of our lives we have been busy here and there, 
giving our thoughts and care not to the only thing 
upon earth really worthy of enlisting our sleepless 
energies, but to almost everything else than this. 
It is within the bounds of the soberest truth to 
declare of many, even in our Christian congrega- 
tions, that if any one else should treat them as 
they treat themselves, they would be filled with in- 
dignation. If you could give that priceless jewel 



AHAB AND BENHADAD. 231 

— your own soul — into some other man's charge, 
and bid him secure its salvation, and yet he should 
take no more care of it than you yourself now take, 
you could not withhold your indignant judgment of 
his unfaithfulness. 

Let every sinful man remember that no excuses 
of any kind can be a sufficient apology before God 
for the neglect of the souFs salvation. Read over 
the prophet's parable; apply it to yourself, and 
know that God will hold you responsible for disre- 
garded duty. It will not do to reply before him 
that you were thoughtless, negligent or busy at other 
things. Doubtless many have been busy here and 
there with what seemed the pressing concerns of 
life ; yet this is a world that perishes, and they have 
been neglecting the only everlasting things specially 
by God himself committed to their care. If this 
conduct was wholly reversed, it would be true 
wisdom. Should a man gain the soul's everlasting 
life and lose all the world can offer, it will matter 
little a few years hence. Every reasonable thought 
urges that nothing is so well worth our care and 
diligence as to secure the soul's eternal life. But 
if a man's thoughts and time and heart are taken 
up with other things — no matter how important he 
may esteem them, or how urgently they may press 
themselves upon his attention — if at that solemn 
judgment-seat, where w^e must all appear, this man, 
giving an account of his stewardship, is compelled 
to say of the soul's salvation : ^' While thy servant 



232 THE TllAASLATED PKOPHET. 

was busy here and there it was gone V will not the 
sentence from his lips irreversibly declare: "So 
shall thy judgment be ; thyself hast decided it f^ 
And speechless from all reasonable reply will be 
every negligent soul who hears the final sentence, 
Depart from me accursed ! 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THJE VINBYARn OF NABOTH. 

"ITTE know little of Elijah during the quiet years 
' ' that followed his return to social life. The 
silence of the history gives assurance that Jezebel 
gave him no molestation ; yet as policy, and not 
love for Elijah, has disarmed her vengeance, .we 
infer that the prophet has gained a public influence 
which she dare not resist. In all free governments 
public sentiment sways public policy ; the rulers 
cannot always do as they wish, but rather as they 
can, and often results are reached every way differ- 
ent from the wisest anticipations. Let us not adopt 
the flattering maxim : Vox populi vox Dei — the 
voice of the people is the voice of God. Rather 
let us say that the popular wave often moves with 
the high and resistless spring-tide of fanaticism or 
party passion ; that intelligence and virtue are the 
necessary preparatives for self-government in any 
people, and that both calamities and blessings may 
spring from popular movements. Our wisest judg- 
ment in the whole matter is to discern that God 
wisely rules, holding in his hands the hearts of ruler 
and people, arraying even their passions and pre- 

23a 



234 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

judices against each other to accomplish his pur- 
poses, and thus sometimes allowing them to dash 
against each other to fulfil the judgments of his 
righteousness, and sometimes to hold each other in 
check when his mercy would restrain the wrath. 
Amidst the mad and clashing array of passion in 
human affairs, a divine hand holds the famous 
'^ BALANCE OF POWER '' of which wc read so much ; 
and while thus the busy actors cannot foresee the 
end that may be near at hand, he controls all for 
judgment or for mercy. Even a Jezebel dares not 
carry out her threats, not because she fears God, but 
in the changed state of affairs in Israel, and Elijah 
is allowed to go on with his quiet labours, watching 
with jealous care and promoting with diligent zeal 
the interests for which he was lately so despondent. 
It is wonderful to see how^ soon a desolated land 
may show proofs of returning prosperity. The vic- 
tories of Ahab w-ere glorious ; the disastrous effects 
of his wretched treaty were not immediately felt, 
and pomp and luxury began to grow\ Besides his 
residence at Samaria, the well-fortified capital of 
the kingdom, the king had built another palace in 
the town of Jezreel. This is a place of some note 
in the history of the people. In the valley of Jez- 
reel Gideon defeated the Midianites; 2iii\\Qfountahi 
of Jezreel fell Saul and Jonathan on one bloody 
day ; in the plahi of Jezreel afterward drove the 
rapid chariot of avenging Jehu, and the city of Jez- 
reel commanded a wide and maonificent view. The 



THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH. 235 

residence of the king had been made here before 
the time of our present thoughts ; but now, in the 
hour of pride and victory, he entertains new 
schemes of enlarging and adorning. Perhaps now 
Ahab built a palace of such cost and extravagance 
that the Scriptures call it ^'a house of ivory. 1 
Kings xxii. 39. In all probability the adornings 
of the rooms, or at least the furniture, the beds and 
couches and tables, were beautified by the inlaying 
of this costly material. The luxurious princes of 
Eastern countries were accustomed to decorate the 
ceilings, panels and doors of their houses with ivory, 
to adorn articles of use and luxury, and to make 
statues, some of which were of great magnificence. 
So the prophet Amos declares the judgments of God 
upon the ivory mansions of the Israelitish princes. 
Amos iii. 15. 

From the beautiful site of Jezreel stretches out 
the plain of the same name, bounded toward the 
sea by the ridge of fertile Car m el. Having per- 
haps rebuilt or refitted his splendid palace, aided by 
the spoils of his great victories, Ahab wishes to 
enlarge and lay off the grounds around it, not only 
in beauty that might gratify the taste, but in fruit- 
ful gardens ministering to his appetite. The most 
desirable piece of ground for his purpose was held 
as a vineyard by a citizen of Jezreel named Naboth. 
Ahab offered to purchase, either in exchange for 
other lands or for the price of it in money. Ac- 
cording to our ideas and our ways of dealing, there 



236 THE TRANSLATED PKOPHET. 

was no wrong in this offer. The desire to enlarge 
and adorn the grounds around his palace was not 
intrinsically evil, and Ahab may up to this time 
have shown no improper spirit. To desire another 
man's property, to be willing to buy it of him, to 
effect the purchase, may all be without wrong. 
Covetousness is an undue lonorinor for another's 
possessions, envying him what he has, and grieving 
that we cannot make it ours. If the owner wishes 
to part with his property, we may give him the just 
price for it. If he wishes to retain it, we should 
withhold even cur thoughts fi'om any invasion of 
his entire right so to do. In the case before us it 
is not clear that under Jewish law Xaboth had the 
right to part with his vineyard, and we may under- 
stand his reply to the king to affirm that he had 
not. This was the inheritance of his fathers, and 
it belonged to his family rather than to himself. 
AVhen a piece of property lay entirely inside of a 
walled town the owner could sell it; when it was a 
farm or vineyard, he could not dispose of it, though 
he could give up his right till the ensuing year of 
jubilee. Lev. xxv. 23, &c. Possibly Ahab disre- 
garded the law ; it may have fallen into disuse ; but 
Xaboth was a true-hearted Israelite, was disposed 
to abide by the law, even at the risk of giving 
offence to his powerful neighbour ; and, aside from 
his personal attachment to the lands on which he 
was born, he may have regarded the transaction as 
altogether unrighteous. 



II 



THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH. 287 

Pride and power cannot easily bear reproof or 
disappointment; and Naboth's refusal, implying 
both, was a source of great vexation to Ahab. He 
returned to Samaria heavy and angry, and like a 
pouting child would eat no bread. He was ill in- 
deed ; for no ordinary disease is so bad as the most 
wretched of human passions that now throws the 
king of Israel upon .his bed. An envious covet- 
ousness is worse than a fever in the veins ; guilt in 
the conscience is worse than pain in the bones; and 
the heartache is harder to bear than a headache. 
This would be a wretched world if such feelings 
prevailed more; it is wretched because like pas- 
sions do abound. 

And now, standing by Ahab's sick bed, we get a 
homeside view of Jezebel. Even the wicked of the 
world have their kindly feelings, their warm affec- 
tions, their tender sympathies. It is a false idea of 
human character which supposes that any one is 
all perfidy and wickedness. Every liar speaks 
many truths ; the most cruel are not always fierce ; 
and Jezebel may be an attached wife, soon noticing 
her husband's uneasiness, and easily drawing from 
him the cause of it. Before, we saw this haughty 
queen ardently attached to her national religion, 
and the munificent patroness of four hundred 
prophets. So here she is the attentive wife, quick 
to discern and ready to relieve her husband's grief. 
Let us not only learn that monsters of cruelty may 
do kindly things, but let us also see that the exer- 



238 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

cise of social virtues is quite consistent with the 
absence of true religion, and that men may love 
their kindred while they hate their God. ^^If ye 
love them that love you, Avhat reward have you ? 
Do not even the publicans so f^ See JezebePs in- 
iquity in the very means she uses to please her 
husband. She ridicules the scruples or the cow- 
ardice that keep him from gaining the end he had 
set his heart upon; and, perhaps without making 
him immediately acquainted with the plan she has 
in mind, she assures him that she Avill secure for 
him Naboth's coveted vineyard. But her guilt is 
his, for she but carries out his wishes; his seal is 
entrusted to her to give the needful authority ; he 
expressed no disapprobation of her measures, and 
he was ready to take advantage of her success. 

Times seem to have changed in the land since 
JezebeFs high-handed persecution of the prophets ; 
and the haughty queen, aiming now at the life of a 
single man, dare not go contrary to the forms of 
Jewish laws. When the kingly government was 
established in Israel, Samuel wrote the form of the 
kingdom in a book, the first example of a written 
constitution — the surest guarantee of a people^s 
freedom. Doubtless Jeroboam and his successors 
did not dare to change this fundamental law when 
the kingdom of the ten tribes was set up ; and the 
kings of Israel were not despotic, but must be 
bound by constitutional law. This land belonged 
to Naboth; and Jezebel must beware how she exer- 



^1 



THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH. 239 

cised arbitrary power. But even good laws demand 
upright magistrates. A wicked public opinion, a 
wicked ruler, a wicked or time-serving judge, may 
pervert the best institutions to evil purposes. What 
are the best laws against the influence of false wit- 
nesses, false pleadings and false judgments? The 
crime of Naboth's murder, if he had been smitten 
in secret or publicly mobbed in the streets of Jez- 
reel, would have been less malicious and wicked by 
far than the queen made it now by an arraignment, 
a mock judgment and a capital punishment under 
the laws of God himself. Death itself w^as a 
small matter compared with this unjust and cruel 
manner of it ; the mockery of a trial, the disgrace 
of a public execution, only in part relieved by the 
conviction in the public mind that accuser, wit- 
nesses 'and judges were alike perjured and partakers 
of the guilt of innocent blood. 

The unscrupulous queen took the king's seal and 
wrote letters to the magistrates of Jezreel, com- 
manding them to bring Naboth to trial upon a 
charge of blasphemy against God and the king. 
She indeed cared nothing for any blasphemy he 
-^could utter against the God whose altars and 
prophets had been the objects of her hatred. But 
it suits her purpose to dissemble, and even Jezebel 
can affect a zeal for Jehovah. We may hope that 
few magistrates in Israel would have complied so 
readily with this base proposition, but men's inter- 
ests too often prepare them for any injustice. The 



240 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

elders of Jezreel may have felt flattered by the resi- 
dence of the royal household there, though it was 
scarcely permanent, but rather occasional. Doubt- 
less the improvements made and projected by Ahab 
promised much for the attraction and wealth of 
their city; and his fellow-citizens may have felt in- 
dignant that Naboth should be so wanting in pub- 
lic spirit as to resist proposals so evidently for the 
benefit of the place. Selfishness easily leads on to 
injustice; and this poor but upright man had no 
helpers but his own approving thoughts. Yet 
here have we a complicated crime indeed. Ahab 
is guilty of the murder of Naboth ; so is Jezebel ; 
so are the elders of Jezreel ; so were the witnesses 
that swore his life away ; so were the citizens so far 
as they sympathized with known injustice. Not 
free from blame were they who saw and hated the 
wrong with no sign of protest. Moral responsibility 
cannot be divided so that many may bear its sepa- 
rate parts. It made this matter w^orse that no 
party uttered a word against the wrong. 

The hypocrisy of the proceedings is as great as 
the injustice; and here is a flagrant violation both 
of religion and of law. A solemn fast-day is pro-' 
claimed, as if the divine honour must be vindi- 
cated or some grievous sin lamented. The nation 
is so changed that Jezebel is a professed Hebrew, 
and she who once trampled on the Lord's prophets 
must use the Lord's name to conceal this legal 
murder. We do not know whether Naboth had 



THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH. 241 

any opportunity to defend himself, or whether he 
could directly impugn the testimony of the false 
witnesses. Little matter whether or not. Testi- 
mony and argument are alike useless where the 
judges are forsworn and the cause is already pre- 
judged. The unhappy Naboth was condemned 
and put to death. Possibly his family shared his 
fate; for years afterward ( 2 Kings ix. 26) Jehu is 
said to have avenged the blood of Naboth and his 
sons. According to the Jewish law, blasphemy 
involved treason; and even if in the apostate king- 
dom there was any change here, Naboth's indict- 
ment charged him with speaking against the king. 
Modern Jews say that the estate of a traitor was 
forfeited to the crown, and the conviction of this 
man may have included the confiscation of his 
property. 

Though Ahab was not so hardened as to plan 
this crime himself, he is ready to reap the advan- 
tages of it. But he met an unexpected barrier to 
peaceable possession. The providence of God only 
seemed to slumber. The deed of treachery and 
fraud is not hindered, yet the death of Naboth is 
not to pass unnoticed. Let not Ahab think that 
all that is done with impunity; indeed the crime is 
no sooner completed than, Avhile Ahab passes to 
Jezreel to take possession of the vineyard, Elijah 
is sent to meet him on the coveted land, and to 
denounce upon him there the divine displeasure. 

The very sight of this faithful man of God 

16 



242 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

awakened the terror of the guilty king. There is 
nothing more wonderful than the power of the 
guilty conscience to keep quiet its own convictions, 
unless indeed the ease with which the* mind may be 
awakened to agonizing remorse is still more 
strange. Ahab knew what he had done before he 
met Elijah ; he knew how contrary all this was to 
the law of God. Men fear those who rebuke sin, 
yet fear not sin itself; they dread that men should 
know their wickedness, yet are careless, though it is 
spread out before the eye of the All-seeing; their 
remorse is awakened when a man speaks, yet they 
are indifferent at God's word. If Elijah had not 
met Ahab, he would have been as guilty, yet his 
heart might have been hardened to indifference. 
When he saw the prophet his courage sank; he 
knew what he had to expect; his conscience 
troubled him, and he calls out against him as the 
enemy to his peace. Elijah made no remark upon 
this title, and yet it was most untrue and unjust. 
The prophet had never given the slightest token of 
personal hostility to Ahab. He might now have 
expostulated with him in the language afterward 
used by Paul, "Am I therefore become your enemy, 
because I tell the truth ?'^ Gal. iv. 16. He might 
have reminded him of Solomon^s teaching, that 
real hostility lay in a lying tongue and that flatter- 
ing lips led on to ruin. Prov. xxvi. 28. A man's 
real foes are those who countenance or promote 
evil, either against him or in him ; and his truest 



THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH. 243 

friends are those who are most faithful to warn or 
rebuke every word or deed or tendency of evil. 
The reproving Elijah was less an enemy to Ahab 
than was the flattering wife of his bosom. 

Yet indeed now it was too late for the faithful 
w^ords of Elijah to benefit the guilty king. Time 
was — perhaps it is even here intimated that a true 
and permanent penitence was not impossible even 
for him — certainly time was, w^hen the prophet^s 
word, received and obeyed, would have been Ahab's 
life. But now the prophet speaks in severity, and 
with great earnestness and plainness he declares the 
Lord's just judgments upon him. Ahab^s blood 
should fall upon that same plain of Jezreel where 
the innocent blood of Naboth had fallen, and 
Jezebel should meet a shocking end : she should 
fall from the window of that ivory palace, be trod- 
den down on the border of the coveted vineyard, 
and be eaten by the dogs of Jezreel beneath the 
city\s walls. And men stood by to hear Elijah's 
bold words who were to witness their fulfilment, 
and in part to put them in execution. 2 Kings ix. 
25. These terrible declarations Elijah made to the 
trembling king in the name of a sin-avenging God. 
Not the Tishbite, but the Lord came forth to meet 
and trouble the sinner. The truth of the charge 
and the justice of the judgment were the chief 
elements of terror. So ever, when the conscience 
of man answers back to a reprover's words, the 
true weight of responsibility lies upon the sinner. 



244 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

The law is not made for a righteous man, but for 
the lawless and the disobedient. They who com- 
plain of rebukes and judgment should complain 
most of themselves for doing that which deserves 
them. The sinner who is restless and angry under 
reproof is his own worst enemy — first, because of 
his sin against God, and next, because he rebels 
against that divine forbearance which uses rebukes 
rather than immediate judgment, that the guilty 
may be led to repentance. 

Ahab was not so hardened in iniquity but that 
Elijah's words filled him with alarm, and one can- 
not think that he ever enjoyed the estate thus 
ruthlessly seized. He knew that Elijah's solemn 
denunciations would be fulfilled, and his soul was 
terrified. So much was he disturbed that he put 
on the external appearance of a penitent, and gave 
signs of a troubled heart. Yet his was the " sorrow 
of the world that worketh death.'' A half-repent- 
ance feels alarm and grief, and makes fair promises, 
and often deceives the man himself and those 
about him. But it omits important matters, and 
it is usually short-lived. Ahab rent his clothes, 
put on sackcloth, assumed the posture of humility, 
and went softly ; but we do not read that he let go 
his hold upon the lands of Naboth, or reversed the 
ignominious judgment against the innocent, or gave 
any permanent proof that he then became a better 
man. Even these feeble tokens of penitence in a 
public man were allowed to delay the coming judg- 



THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH. 245 

• 
ments, God thus showing how readily he would 

have given his mercy upon a full and true repent- 
ance. And it is important for us to notice that 
even the most abandoned men — those who sell 
themselves to work iniquity until there are none 
like them — may be troubled by the word of God, 
may have their pangs and their tokens of repent- 
ance, may assume a religious garb, and yet be 
unreconciled to God and obnoxious to his wrath. 
We need beware, not only of gross sins, but of an 
imperfect and insincere repentance for our sins. 
True repentance not only fears sin, but hates it, is 
therefore ready to renounce it, and turns from it to 
the cheerful and hearty service of God. 

This tragedy of the Jezreelite is a page of God^s 
providence given us in his word to aid us in explain- 
ing the mysteries that belong to every age, and 
that even with divine teachings often perplex and 
distress us. " Lo these are the ungodly that pros- 
per in the world ; they increase in riches V^ we 
are often ready to say, as we contrast the unequal 
dealings of the divine hand with the sons of men ; 
and sometimes these things almost lead us to skepti- 
cism and desperation. So was it with a tired 
believer of ancient days : "As for me, my feet 
were almost gone, my steps had well-nigh slipped.^^ 
Ps. Ixxiii. 2. An innocent man quietly dwells in 
the inheritance of his fathers, and the monarch of 
the land take^ a fancy to build a sumptuous palace 
near this humble home. Soon after the new-comer 



246 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

casts a covetous eye upon the fields of his neigh- 
bour. Naboth had a better title to his land than 
Ahab had to the throne upon which he reigned ; 
but the king desires a larger garden, and right and 
justice must not thwart his wishes. Even if 
Naboth acts from virtuous principle — which may 
stand firm against inducements to which expediency 
or policy w^ould yield — his piety does not shield 
him from this gross injustice. Innocence and piety 
are unjustly accused ; speedy condemnation follows ; 
he, and perhaps his family, suffer death, and the 
estate passes into the guilty hands that are stained 
with his blood.* 

Nor is this a rare chapter in the world's provi- 
dential history. God's people have often been per- 
plexed by similar occurrences, and God's prophets 
and ministers have often been called upon to fur- 
nish a solution of the mystery. Yet, indeed, one 
single thought may be a key, that, fitting all the 
intricate wards, may unlock the door of this 
chamber of providential mysteries. God rules the 
w^orld, and sees the right and wrong in human 
character and doings, and administers righteousness 

^ The LXX. and Josephns place the narrative concern- 
ing Naboth before the wars with Benhadad. This may have 
been done to throw together the entire narrative of AhaVs 
dealings with Syria; but it is little matter whether the death 
of Naboth occurred a year or two earlier^ or not. Yet we 
account for the king's wealth, as shown in building his 
palaces, more easily by supposing that it resulted from the 
two great victories. 



II 



THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH. 247 

in truth and equity, BUT not all here and 
NOW ! The good things of this life, argued Augus- 
tine many centuries ago,* are not God's best gifts ; 
he bestows them upon his foes ; he withhokls them 
from his friends ; there are better things hereafter, 
of which the wicked shall have no share. So 
pgain, if all sin received its manifest punishment 
in this life, men would refuse to believe in a future 
judgment; yet if no sin was judged here, they 
would disbelieve a providence. That the right- 
eous fall into evil, and are not delivered, that 
sentence against an evil work is not executed 
speedily, and that sometimes evil workers seem to 
escape with entire impunity, are all proofs that this 
world is not the final place of divine judgments, 
but that there is a judgment to come, where God 
will vindicate his righteousness. 

True, there are perplexities here. Superior suf- 
fering is neither a proof of greater sinfulness nor 
of greater righteousness. These may not be greater 
sinners because they suffer such things. Some men 
may suffer both here and hereafter ; to be wretched 
here is no preparative for happiness there. It is 
not the suffering but the cause that makes the 
martyr. We must regard not only what is suffered, 
but who suffers, and how and why and to what end. 
In the same fire gold is j^urified and stubble is 
burned ; by the same process of threshing chaff is 
scattered and wheat is purged ; by the same deal- 

^ See the Civit. Dei, lib. i. ch. viii. 



248 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

ings of providence may either faith or unbelief be 
strengthened. Happy are they ^vho learn like 
Asaph in the sanctuary of God, and choose divine 
guidance through the dark leadings of providence. 
Better Xaboth's death than Ahab's, after all. And 
had Ahab died in peace and unrebuked so far as 
this world is concerned, the divine vindication 
^vould one day be fully made. " Yet surely I 
know/' says the inspired \yise man, '' that it shall 
be ^yell with them that fear God; ... it shall not 
be well with the wricked.'' Eccles. viii. 13. 

Ahab also shows us how much men, especially 
how much some dispositions, are influenced by evil 
companionship. This prince did not lack courage 
and enterprise, yet was he easily led to evil by a 
more commanding mind. Unhappily for him, the 
ties of nearest relationship were used to draw him 
to evil. He sold himself to work evil at the solici- 
tations of Jezebel, his wife. Doubtless many a man 
makes his wife, many a woman makes her husband, 
worse or better than they would otherwise be ; but 
as it is easier to drag down than to raise up, evil 
workers have the advantage. How important is 
the influence of our associations, especially our rela- 
tionships ; salvation or damnation may result from 
the choice of even a casual companion, yet even per- 
manent relations are often thoughtlessly entered 
into. Still, all responsibility leaves each individual 
under his personal obligations. If Jeze])el was 
guilty in Stirling up Ahab's passions^ Ahab was 



THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH. 249 

guilty in yielding. We must resist the Influence 
of our nearest friends to evil^ and cling more closely 
to right and duty the more they endeavour to mis- 
lead us. And where evil associates can be shunned 
they should be. So dangerous are the allurements 
of ungodly companions that our prayer to be kept 
from temptation demands that we do all we can to 
avoid the scenes of evil and those who would tempt 
us to engage in them. 

There is no more dreadful sight on earth than an 
impenitent sinner summoned to appear for eternal 
judgment before the bar of God. When we think 
of the stern Elijah meeting the king of Israel sur- 
rounded by Jehu and Bidkar and other guards 
(2 Kings ix. 25), on his way to that splendid palace, 
and there foretelling his dreadful doom^ we judge 
that the guilty king may well tremble. When 
Kaboth refused to gratify his covetousness he be- 
came sick, and could not eat. Well may he lose 
his relish for royal dainties at Elijah^s stern words. 
And yet the sentence of condemnation is written in 
the word of Elijah's God against many an impen- 
itent soul who remains careless and unconcerned. 
Against every unrepenting sinner abides the WTath of 
God, and the wi3rds of Elijah were not more certain 
of fulfilment than are the solemn threaten in gs that 
address themselves to us. We all are sinners; but 
let us give careful thought and humble prayer to 
this great thing that we be not impenitent sinners. 
Even Ahab might have found mercy had he truly 



250 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

humbled himself at the prophet's rebuke. And 
sinful souls, now justly exposed to God's displeas- 
ure, may find salvation by confessing and forsaking 
their sins. 



H 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE DJEATJar OF jLJBLAB, 

WE have given our thoughts somewhat to the 
character and life of Ahab ; we have seen 
somewhat of his rebellions against God, of his dis- 
regard of solemn warnings and of his insufficient 
repentance. Now the end has come of God's long 
forbearance with an impenitent sinner, and this 
man, who has wrought more evil than any of the 
kings before him, must obey that summons which 
no mortal can resist. The life of one who sins 
thus against God is a fearful preparation for death ; 
rather it is an utter want of preparation. Yet, in- 
deed, it is not to the circumstances of the death of 
such a man, or to the impressions made upon those 
that are around him, that our thoughts should 
chiefly be given. Ahab died in battle, perhaps with 
the reputation among many of a patriotic prince, 
and the connection of Elijah's words with their fnl- 
filment may have been at least somewhat over- 
looked by his contemporaries. Our true judgment 
of death should consider it as it appears in the 
sight of God, and we should remember that no 
earthly praise or earthly pomp can help the guilty 

251 



252 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

sinner as he passes on to the world beyond. " When 
he dieth he can carry nothing away.'^ 

Three years have passed since the last victory 
over Syria — one or two perhaps since the death of 
Naboth and the transient penitence of Ahab. It 
may be Elijah's words are half forgotten, yet their 
fulfilment hastens on. The kings of Judah and 
Israel at this time were in close alliance. A dozen 
years before this time — perhaps earlier than AhaVs 
greatest wickedness — Jehoshaphat had married his 
son to Ahab's daughter, and thus the two king- 
doms were at peace. Now Ahab proposed to 
Jehoshaphat that they should join their forces and 
make war upon Syria. It is likely that the imme- 
diate occasion of this w^as the refusal of Benhadad 
to fulfil the treaty that Ahab had so foolishly made. 
Easy terms, and even those not fulfilled, show how 
much the king of Israel had lost. The strong 
town of Ramoth Gilead had originally belonged to 
Israel ; it was doubtless one of the cities that w^ere 
by the treaty to be restored, yet the Syrians still 
held possession of it. Doubtless Ahab seemed to 
act but the part of a patriotic prince when he re- 
solved to take this city, which was his naturally 
and by treaty. Just at this time, it would seem 
casually, the king of Judah paid a visit to Samaria, 
and was invited by Ahab to assist him in the expe- 
dition. We see no reason why he should join his 
forces to attack Syria, with whom his kingdom had 
no quarrel, and he himself is unwilling to consent 



1 



THE DEATH OF AHAB. 253 

to Ahab's proposal until he has asked divine coun- 
sel. We suppose that Ahab cared little for all the 
prophets of the Lord would say; he makes no 
sincere requests to know the divine will ; yet out of 
compliance with the well-known opinions of his 
visitor, and desirous of his assistance, he cannot but 
do as Jehoshaphat wishes. 

The king of Judah here is wholly out of his 
place, and puts himself in great peril through his 
improper intimacy with this wicked associate. But 
we chiefly turn our thoughts to Ahab, who here 
displays to us the madness and yet the deceitful ness 
of an impenitent heart. He ought now to have 
been specially careful of any rash movements, since 
he had been divinely warned that the displeasure 
of God was upon him and that his life was for- 
feited. And as foolish men sometimes boldly do too 
late what would have been well done if done earlier, 
so Ahab has lost the favourable opportunity for 
humbling the power of Syria. It is of no avail 
that the right to Ramoth Gilead was his, that 
Jehoshaphat was his friend, or that the lying lips 
of four hundred prophets flatter him with promises 
of success, for indeed he is reckless of advice ; to 
go up is his full determination, and even a new 
warning from a faithful prophet has no power to 
hold him back from rushing upon his destruction. 

When the king of Judah requested that the 
voice of the prophets should be heard, an assembly 
of about four hundred of them were gathered at 



254 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

Samaria. We cannot suppose that these were pro- 
fessedly idolatrous prophets, for Jehoshaphat would 
refuse to regard them at all. Yet they were not 
the faithful serv^ants of Jehovah. We may repeat 
the opinion before expressed, that at no time in 
Israel had the mask been openly thrown off and 
the service of Israelis God positively renounced. 
This is not the usual method of apostasy in any 
land or age. The calf at Sinai and the calves of 
Jeroboam were symbols of the true God; the peo- 
ple served Jehovah and Moloch at the same time, 
(Zeph.i. 5), and even the worship of Baal and Astarte 
may have been mixed with professed reverence 
for the Lord. These prophets before Ahab may 
have been the same that " ate at JezebePs table/^ 
and who were saved by her cunning from slaughter 
at Carmel. They were therefore professedly true 
prophets, yet they were false prophets. They 
prophesied therefore as they knew the king desired 
them, and strengthened his purpose to go up to the 
battle. 

But Jehoshaphat is not quite satisfied : perhaps 
he knew just who these prophets were, and inti- 
mates that he would rather see a prophet of the 
LORD. No doubt he knew Ahab well enougji to 
suspect that he sought to be pleased rather than 
profited by the teachings he in-vited. He may 
even have missed some one among the Israelitish 
prophets whose voice he ought to hear upon so 
great an occasion as this. Where were Elijah and 




THE DEATH OF AHAB. 255 

Elisha when the two kings take counsel for an 
important war ? Their word w^ould be worth more 
than the counsels of four hundred. He asks for 
another. It is too much to expect that Ahab 
would name Elijah as his counsellor for any occa- 
sion. Yet better far if he had^ for truth is inde- 
pendent of all personal feeling. There is another 
prophet whom the king names. This is perhaps 
the same man who had reproved him for his 
release of Benhadad three years ago, and some 
think that for that he had ever since that time been 
imprisoned. Certainly now an officer knew just 
where to find him, and after this interview he was 
sent to prison. This man, whether upon that occa- 
sion or some other, had given offence to the king 
by some reproof, and Ahab hated him because he 
had not the flatterer's lip for a wicked man. Yet 
to please the king, Micaiah, the son of Imlah, was 
sent for. While he was coming, the prophets 
reiterated their declarations that the expedition 
should succeed, and one of them with horns of iron 
symbolically foretold the utter destruction of 
Syria. 

Meanwhile the kino:'s messeno^er to Micaiah 
besought him not to contradict the other prophets, 
and perhaps made promises of freedom and promo- 
tion if his words pleased the king. But we may 
well mark the contrast between a wicked man who 
is unfaithful to his own interest and his own soul, 
and a good man, who is faithful for others, for 



256 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

truth and for God, though he puts his life in 
peril. Ahab hates the man who speaks the truth, 
though indeed what truth can speak good to a man 
who is perversely bent upon wickedness? Micaiah 
will speak the word of the Lord. It is evident 
that the advice of this prophet was first given ironi- 
cally. He told the king to go up and prosper, for 
the Lord should deliver the city into the king's 
hands. In words this seems exactly like the other 
prophets, but the king, who wished just such 
AYords, evidently takes no such meaning from them. 
There is no falsehood in irony, even though the 
words are not the truth, for a man's tones are as 
much a part of his meaning as his speech. Tones 
and words may, either of them, be used ambigu- 
ously, but when a truthful impression is designedly 
made, the interests of truth are maintained, even 
though it requires tones, gestures, looks and words, 
all combined, to make the impression. Ahab knew 
the prophet's meaning. Yet what deceitful words 
are these upon the lips of the wicked king ! He 
who hates the prophet for speaking the truth, yet 
solemnly declares that he ever wished only to hear 
the truth. Doubtless this was in part to please the 
king of Judah, though Ahab also may have prac- 
tised deceit upon himself. 

A solemn adjuration, like that here used by 
Ahab, always has the force, in scriptural usage, of 
putting the person addressed as if upon oath to 
answer truly the whole case. So this prophet, 



THE DEATH OF AHAB. 257 

thus solemnly spoken to, answers to the serious 
form of the adjuration, whatever may have been 
the speaker^s mind. He declares a vision he had 
had of Israel, as sheep scattered upon the moun- 
tains without a shepherd, and of the voice of the 
Lord saying, Let them scatter, each to his home. 
This parable was easily understood, and then the 
prophet related a vision still more expressive. 
Several passages of the Scriptures speak as if the 
fallen as well as the holy angels are allowed access 
to the divine presence. So Satan came among the 
sons of God when the divine permission was given 
him against all but the life of Job. So here lying 
as w^ell as truthful spirits go forth to influence the 
prophets. This much is meant certainly, that 
good and evil are equally under the divine control, 
that even these false prophets, not without divine 
permission, speak their messages, and that thus 
they are both " deceivers and being deceived.'' 
Nor let this seem contrary to the divine character. 
We cannot explain the mystery of the existence of 
evil, but w^e can easily decide that something far 
more dreadful than sin in its worst forms would 
be the doctrine that God himself cannot control it. 
He does control it. It goes not one step farther 
than he pleases. Why he allows it to exist, and 
to go so far, are things known only to him. But 
its worst aspects are by his allowance, and not in 
spite of him. He is the Almighty. These were 
false prophets, and they spoke to please man, not 

17 



258 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

God, and at the will of a wicked prince, and God 
allow^s them '' to eat the fruit of their own ways, 
and be filled with their own devices.'^ A lying 
spirit deceives those who love lies. And so it is 
yet. The apostle w^arns us in far later days that 
^' evil men and seducers Avill wax worse and worse, 
deceivers and being deceived.'^ (2 Tim. iii. 13.) A 
chief danger of sin is in its miserable increase. 

This solemn warning of the prophet should have 
produced some effect upon his hearers. This at 
least they knew, that no motive but the love of 
truth could influence him in this testimony. 
The other prophets had their base motives ; this 
man could but gain frowns and a prison. His 
words kindled the indignation of his auditors. One 
of the false prophets, proud of his office and pre- 
sumptuously supposing that he was taught of the 
Divine Spirit, gave good proof that he was not by 
blows and insulting language. The calm reply of 
Micaiah is what we might look for in one taught 
from above and conscious of his truthfulness. But 
Ahab had no design originally to be influenced by 
any counsels contrary to his wishes, and he had art 
enough to persuade Jehoshaphat to accompany 
him to battle, notwithstanding the faithful remon- 
strance of Micaiah. As for this faithful prophet, 
his reward was to be cast into prison — absurdly 
made a hostage for the refutation of his words. 
Yet he was bold enough, in the very face of the 
sentence, to maintain the truth of his previous dec- 



THE DEATH OF AHAB. 259 

larations and to reaffirm the warning that Ahab 
was now hastening to his own death. 

Perversely refusing the last warning given by- 
faithful lips, the guilty king went forth to the con- 
flict. Yet when he drew near the field of battle he 
was not so careless as external appearances would 
indicate. The fears of wicked men may be re- 
pressed by false shame, they may boastingly de- 
clare that they know no fear, yet they are often ill 
at ease. And now Ahab feels it necessary to use 
double precautions against the dangers of which he 
had been forewarned. The king of Syria, .whose 
life he had spared, gave special orders that his war- 
riors should make every effort to slay Ahab ; and 
though these orders may not have been known in 
the Israelitish camp, the king of Israel uses efforts 
to secure himself. But he uses devices more cun- 
ning than honorable. He is willing to shield his own 
life and to expose that of his friend and ally. Ahab 
disguised himself; i. e,, he dressed himself as an 
officer of some inferior rank, so that he would be 
placed in no special danger. With this we should 
find no fault, if a like expedient had been adopted 
by Jehoshaphat ; but Ahab expressly urged him to 
put on his royal robes. This was nothing less than 
putting the king of Judah to special exposure in 
order to save himself. Guilt thus not only makes 
a coward of Ahab, but betrays also the hollowness 
of his friendship. Indeed, the friendship of a 
wicked man usually carries him only to the limit 



260 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

of his own self interest. And how can we judge 
that any one who disregards his duty to God, as 
did Ahab, would deal faithfully by his friend? 
Yet this is worldly friendship in all ages, and the 
professed servants of God, who, like Jehoshaphat, 
make alliances with the enemies of their Lord, put 
their souls in peril, because they are thus led to 
engagements not divinely approved, and because 
their treacherous companions take particular pains 
to put them in special exposure; and they congrat- 
ulate their own sharpness when they are successful. 
This conduct of Ahab was the more base, because 
the quarrel was his, and the advantages hoped for 
were for Israel, and not for Judah. Shall we blame 
most the credulous simplicity of Jehoshaphat or 
the crafty meanness of Ahab ? 

Rather let us learn more carefully the practical 
lesson, that the friendship of the world is enmity 
to God. AVe often see professedly pious persons 
'warmly attached to the society of the ungodly, 
drawn by them into their worldly amusements and 
engagements, and often thrust forward as if some 
special attention was thus paid to them. Yet truly 
the flattery and felse representations which thus 
make such a one the leader is like the treachery 
of this cowardly king, who takes the meaner rank 
to save his wretched life, and adorns Jehoshaphat 
that he may take all the risk and exposure. The 
king of Judah should not have been there at all, 
warned as he had been by the faithful Micaiah; 



THE DEATH OF AHAB. 261 

and few servants of God are thrust forward into 
scenes of guilty indulgence without the warnings 
of faithful pastors and the upbraidings of their own 
consciences ; so that it only adds to their guilt that 
they prefer the deceitful flatteries of the ungodly 
to the earnest voice of truth. As this battle pro- 
ceeded Jehoshaphat was exposed to great danger. 

The leaders of the Syrians imagined that they 
saw in him the king of Israel^ and the ungrateful 
Benhadad had commanded them to aim expressly 
at his life. As there were thirty-two captains, all 
under the same order, it seemed impossible for the 
object of their vengeance to escape. If even the 
king slew one and another, if he changed his place 
upon the field of strife, everywhere he met new 
foes aiming directly at him. Perhaps several 
bodies of selected troops, with energetic leaders, 
surrounded the life-guards of Jehoshaphat and 
threatened to overwhelm him, and he was forced to 
retreat so repeatedly that the true state of the case 
was made evident. Ahab had laid a cunning plan ; 
it seemed every way successful; and the betrayed 
Jehoshaphat may well fear for his life. In his 
extremity, surrounded by the enemy, he cried to 
God for help ; and though he had gone into danger 
contrary to divine counsel, God delivered him. 
The enemy learned that this was not the man they 
sought, and under divine restraint they departed 
from him. 2 Chron. xviii. 31, 32. 

But if a righteous man, overreached by the 



262 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

cunning of the wicked and sinfully disobedient to 
the divine will, is vet mercifully delivered in the 
perils into which he has ventured, the cunning of 
the wicked, though apparently successful, cannot 
succeed against the divine purposes. The men 
specially charged to destroy Ahab do not recognize 
him, and specially overlook him in the meanness 
of his disguise; and it may be that exulting 
thoughts of his security swelled in the bosom of 
the wicked king as the progress of the battle left 
him unharmed. But Ahab's great quarrel was not 
with Benhadad, but with the living God, whose eye 
no disguise can escape, and who never lacks 
agencies to execute his will just when and as he 
pleases. In this case the casual nature of the 
agency gives only the clearer proof of divine ven- 
geance. An unknown soldier in the Syrian army 
shot his arrow, as men often do in the thick con- 
flict, without any particular aim. We wonder how 
it is that so many shots are thrown away, when in 
the array of battle one would think that every 
bullet must strike some man. Yet facts show that 
a very small proportion of the shots fired do any 
harm at all. A random shot seems almost certainly 
a shot thrown away. But this manes' arrow, beyond 
his knowledge either when he shot or afterward, 
had a special commission from God. We read in 
the history of Philip of Macedon that having 
given oifence to a celebrated marksman, the archer 
took deliberate revenge for the insult. Being 



THE DEATH OF AHAB. 263 

among the defenders of a certain town against the 
king's attacks, he wrote upon an arrow : ^' To Phil- 
ip's right eye/' and then shot the shaft directly to 
that mark. This was human skill. But in the 
case before us not the skill of the bowman, but the 
directings of God's providence, sped the fatal arrow 
to the joint of Ahab's armour. The divine will 
had already been expressed in the language of 
Micaiah, that Ahab was to fall in the battle, and 
this unaimed arrow is God's messenger of death. 
Under his disguise the king wore iron armour, but 
even this could not avail him in the hour of his pre- 
destined doom. The fatal shaft entered at one of 
the joints ; so serious was the w^ound that the king 
at once ordered his chariot-driver to bear him off 
the field, for both the wound of the arrow and the 
words of the prophet assured him that this was a 
fatal stroke. Yet then he seems in his desperation 
to have countermanded the order, or perhaps he re- 
turned after his wound was dressed ; he bid them 
brace him up in his chariot as though still un- 
'wounded, and continued in a still fiercer conflict, 
fighting the Syrians as long as daylight lasted. 

No sinful soul can escape the just judgment of 
God. Even the plans that seem successful cannot 
succeed against the Almighty; but every rebel may 
be sure his sin will find him out. God can use the 
most casual and unexpected agencies to effect his 
purposes. And let us not be diverted from the 
serious consideration of Ahab's impenitence by the 



264 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

courage with which he sustained the fierceness of 
the battle even after he received a deadly wound. 
The main matter touching every man^s real charac- 
ter pertains to his standing before God, and not to 
the discharge of earthly engagements. Ahab died 
in battle for Israel, seeking to win a city that be- 
longed of right to his kingdom, and worldly lips 
might say that his was the death of a brave warrior. 
Yet the judgment of God is according to truth. 
This man was a wicked despiser and persecutor of 
God^s prophets; one who sold himself to work 
iniquity ; one who hated to hear the faithful coun- 
sels of truth ; one who trifled with his own best 
opportunities; one who fell now by the direct 
judgment of his angry God. The very casual 
manner of his death requires that we should at- 
tribute it to the divine hand. For in all the 
Scriptures the direct, minute and universal control 
of God in providential matters is plainly affirmed. 
This was a chance shot so far as man was concerned, 
but there is no chance before him. 

The battle was adverse to Israel. At the close 
of the day a proclamation was made : Every man 
to his own city, and every man to his own country. 
Oriental armies, in ancient times, were composed of 
men called forth by the king's command, without 
the regular enrolment and pay of our modern prac- 
tice. To a large extent each man brought his own 
provisions ; the army was a gathering of undis- 
ciplined men, and after a defeat the whole was fre- 




THE DEATH OF AHAB. 265 

quently disbanded^ each man being directed to seek 
his own home. Thus, after this great battle of 
Ramoth Gilead, the vision of Micaiah was fulfilled. 
Israel was without a shepherd, and every man 
returned to his house. Yet of course there were 
chosen bodies — especially the king^s own guards — 
not subject to this law of easy dispersion. These 
took care of the body of Ahab, who died that same 
evening. His chariot was washed in the pool of 
Samaria, and the dogs licked his blood. Yet we 
may notice that the original words of Elijah, that 
the dogs should lick his blood in the vineyard of 
Naboth, were fulfilled in his sons and not in himself. 
For upon Ahab's repentance it had been subse- 
quently said that this evil should not come in his 
days, but upon his sons. 2 Kings xxi. 29. 

Joseph us says that the false prophet Zedekiah en- 
couraged Ahab by alleging a contradiction between 
Elijah's prediction and this of Micaiah. 

Let us not fail to notice in this friendship of a 
good man and a bad one that God was displeased 
with both Jehoshaphat and Ahab, and did not 
withhold the evidence of his displeasure from both. 
There was indeed a very great difference between 
the two men, as the professed servants of God 
may deserve rebuke and chastisement, w^hile yet 
they are not as bad as their wicked companions. 
Jehoshaphat in general was an upright man, sin- 
cerely, though not with sufficient firmness, seeking 
the divine honour, and there were good things 



266 THE TRANSLATED PKOPHET. 

found him in seeking after God. But his inconsist- 
ency — too easily influenced by flattering lips — put 
his life in great danger ; only divine forbearance 
Mas his guard ; and upon his return home from this 
battle-field the prophet Jehu was sent to rebuke 
him for this ungodly alliance, and to declare that 
the further wrath of God should be upon him. 
And every professed lover of God in later times, 
easily misled to worldly conformity and to sinful 
associations, should hear the solemn warning of 
this prophet in the ears of this king of Judah : 
^^ Shouldest thou help the ungodly and love them 
that hate the Lord ? therefore is wrath upon thee 
from before the Lord !" 2 Chron. xix. 2. It is the 
sin of many Christians to look with mildness and 
toleration, and even with complacency, upon many 
things that are dangerous to the souls of men ; they 
join in easy familiarity with, those wdiose opinions 
and practices are thoroughly worldly and indeed im- 
pious ; and th^ey even justify eSbrts to unite worldly 
follies with Christian consistency, though they are 
Avarned that these attempts are displeasing to God, 
dangerous to themselves and ruinous to others. 

Wickedness does not change its nature, no matter 
what flattering forms it may assume, no matter in 
whom it may be found ; and every man acts pre- 
sumptuously, and may well fear the wrath of a holy 
God, who does contrary to his holy command- 
ments. In the divine mercy, Jehoshaphat did not 
perish ; yet not all who venture to follow his sin 



II 



THE DEATH OF AHAB. 267 

may find the deliverance he did. And no doubt 
many griefs belong to inconsistent Christians, be- 
cause they love them that hate the Lord ; hopes are 
clouded; fears are prevalent; comforts turn to 
pangs; for the Lord will smite and chastise his dis- 
obedient servants. Many a man can easily discern, 
if he faithfully judges himself, why it is not with 
him as in months that are passed ; and he can find 
renewed peace only by a true repentance. But let 
men that are impenitent in their sins learn profit- 
able lessons from the death of Ahab. If we look 
back over the life of this man, we may see that 
God hedged up his way by serious warnings, and 
calls to repentance, and opportunities of doing 
right, and invitations to the divine service. But 
Ahab became only more sullen and obstinate under 
these divine dealings. Let us not say Elijah dealt 
too sternly with him. Let us rather acknowledge 
that Ahab's guilty heart was his worst enemy. Nor 
can we find any apology for him in the influence of 
Jezebel, or in evils already in progress wdien he 
came to the throne. There is an individual, per- 
sonal responsibility belonging to every sinner, that 
remains entire, however he may be influenced for 
good or evil by the circumstances or persons about 
him. God so deals with every man that his judg- 
ments are according to righteousness for all that the 
man is and for all that he does ; and thus no rea- 
sonable motive can ever justify man's rebellion 
against God. The sinner cannot disguise himself 



268 



THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 



from God's eye; he cannot clothe himself in armour 
where an arrow divinely directed can find no un- 
guarded spot^ and unwitting instruments may work 
the divine vengeance. Nor is any man more safe 
from the messengers that God sends, though he 
should keep himself from the field of battle and 
live in the security of his quiet home. God's 
arrows execute his commissions at noon or mid- 
night; they never miss the mark nor strike the 
wrong man. Let those who disregard the word of 
the Lord fear the hour — all unknown and unex- 
pected — when the final messenger shall come. Ahab 
was warned of the very day : we may not be. 
Even in the hour of highest health and security 
and exaltation may the fatal arrow be aimed in 
secret at the heart. 



M^ 



CHAPTER XVI. 

"ANY of these narratives of the Old Testament 
are doubly interesting and instructive because 
they are mentioned, explained, illustrated and ap- 
plied to practical uses in the New Testament; thus 
often furnishing us with both text and commentary 
by divine inspiration. So in the next scene of 
Elijah^s history we may first see his doings, and 
then notice the reply of our Lord to his disciples, 
when upon a certain occasion they wished him to 
follow Elijah's example, in calling down fire from 
heaven to consume those who had refused to be- 
friend him. 

Evidently the contest upon Carmel and the put- 
ting to death of the priests of Baal had all the 
effect of a great victory for the cause of truth. 
Perhaps even Elijah's faint-heartedness, when he 
fled from the threats of Jezebel, may have led the 
people to give the due honour to God, and have 
kept him humble while yet the good work went on. 
Every intimation proves that Baal worship declined ; 
even Ahab and Jezebel recognize Jehovah's wor- 
ship and observe the forms of Israelitish law ; and 

269 



270 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

for ten or more years Elijah's quiet labours were 
prosecuted among his people. But Ahab died, as 
he had lived, without token of true repentance; 
and his son and successor gives proof that he is in 
heart devoted to the bad principles of his parents. 
Indeed, as Jezebel still lived, her son was doubtless 
controlled by her imperious w^ill, as her husband 
had been. After a reign of between one and two 
years the new king met with an accident, which 
discovered his idolatrous temper and resulted in his 
death. 

He fell down through a lattice. The houses of 
the East are built with flat roofs, upon which the 
people walk and often sleep; and by habit they 
become careless of the danger of falling from them. 
The laws of Moses required that every man should 
make a ^^ battlement'' or balustrade around the roof, 
to prevent persons from falling; and they held 
the owner of the house responsible for the injury 
done if no such protection was upon the building. 
Deut. xxii. 8. Perhaps this was the "lattice" here 
referred to ; it may have given way when the king 
leaned upon it, and allowed him to fall upon the 
marble pavement of the court beneath. The outer 
" battlement" is generally a wall ; the inner is a 
railing. The injury was serious, yet not necessarily 
fatal. The king sought supernatural aid. Though 
he was a worshiper of Baal, it is likely that these 
services were not so boldly rendered as they were a 
few years before; his own kingdom now possesses 



FIRE FROM HEAVEN. 271 

no oracle of idolatry ; so, desiring to consult one, 
he must needs send to Ekron, one of the five cities 
of the Philistines, where was a special temple of 
Baalzebub. The name signifies the Fly-God. 
While it gives evidence of the decline of idolatry 
in Israel that the king must send to a foreign land 
for this oracle, it shows the incorrigible idolatry of 
Ahab's house, aggravates the sin of Ahaziah, and 
makes it more appropriate for Elijah to interfere. 

This new display of rebellion against God must 
not go unnoticed, and the rod of divine vengeance 
must again chastise the house of Ahab. As the 
messengers of Ahaziah passed toward Ekron, they 
met a man clothed in coarse cameVs hair, with a 
girdle of leather— the usual rough garments of a 
Hebrew prophet. With a voice of authority which 
they dare not gainsay he sent them back to the 
king, with an earlier and more certain reply than 
they could have secured from Ekron. He told 
them that their errand was an insult to the God of 
Israel, and that for this the king should die. 
When the overawed messengers returned, Ahaziah 
easily knew, from the description of the man and 
^the tenor of his words, that this was the resolute 
opposer of Ahab's house. Yet was he not dis- 
mayed or humbled at the sentence of death against 
himself, or, growing desperate because he knew he 
must die, he was highly incensed at the prophet, 
the only man in the land who would dare thus to 
resist and thus to address the king. Resolved to 



272 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

secure Elijah, and to avenge the quarrel of his 
family at any cost^ the king sent a band of soldiers 
to take him prisoner. 

Judging from his haughty words to the prophet, 
the leader of this band had much of his master's 
spirit. But Elijah now comes in judgment to 
Ahaziah and to men in Israel like minded. In 
answer to the captain's haughty tone he called for 
fire from heaven, and at his fearful word the 
lightnings flashed forth from the sky and consumed 
the entire band. The king, hearing of this result, 
sent another company, and they likewise perished 
at the prophet's word. But these captains address 
Elijah as a man of God. Perhaps they gave him 
this title in derision, and were justly punished for 
their mockery. But indeed it would make the 
matter no better to say that they recognized his 
full right to the name, for in that case they should 
have spoken respectfully. But the second captain 
speaks even more imperatively than tlie first. 
How obstinate the king seems, who can still send a 
third company after two had been so terribly 
destroyed ! But the commander of this band was a 
wiser man than his master, and learns salutary les- 
sons from those who preceded him. taying aside 
the demands of authority, he came as a suppliant 
to the prophet's feet, and besought him to deal 
otherwise with him than with the others. aSo man 
can harden himself against God and prosper : this 
captain gained his life and his errand by humility 



FIRE FROM HEAVEN. 273 

and submission. At the divine command Elijah 
went with this man ; he had nothing to fear from 
the dying king, and it was well to repeat his mes- 
sage fearlessly before the very court, perhaps also in 
the presence of Jezebel. Thus the authority of 
Elijah's God was boldly and publicly vindicated. 
No man dare attempt to revenge Ahaziah. The 
king's death, which soon occurred, made the lesson 
more impressive, and as he had no son, his brother 
Joram or Jehoram reigned in his stead. 

This solemn judgment upon a hundred men was 
from the lips of Elijah, but directly by the power 
of God. The life of this prophet consistently 
exhibits the spirit of law : we first read of him 
shutting, and next opening, the heavens to with- 
hold or give rain upon the earth, and in this, the 
last public act of his ministry, calling down fire 
upon the despisers of divine authority. Let us 
not omit to notice that these particular character- 
istics of his ministry are in the book of Revelation 
attributed to the two witnesses, whose office is to 
prophesy in sackcloth during the prevalence of the 
great apostasy, xi. 3, seq. Not only like Moses should 
they possess the power of turning water to blood, 
but, like Elijah, power to open and shut heaven, to 
destroy their foes by fire, and to ascend up in the 
sight of their enemies. We suppose whatever may 
be the full meaning of the particular expressions 
or the fulfilment of the prophecy that the mission 
of these who should resist the apostasy should be 

18 



274 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

one like that of Elijah, of law, calling the people to 
repentance and reformation, yet not indeed success- 
fully, for they were to be slain. But to denounce 
divine judgment seems the appropriate and neces- 
sary work of a divine messenger in times of abound- 
ing wickedness, and Elijah is the exemplar of 
the reforming prophets. 

Yet indeed it is our privilege to look u])on a 
greater than Elijah. We learn only half the lesson 
of this fire from heaven, as it flashes forth from 
that angry sky, and leaves Ahaziah's messengers 
dead at the prophet^s feet. Let us turn from the 
Old Testament to the New; having -learned the 
lesson of law, let us be prepared to receive also the 
teaching of the gospel. From Elijah the servant let 
our eyes look upon Elijah^s Lord. We are told 
that the disciples of Christ, when they passed 
through this district of country with their Lord, and 
the inhabitants refused to show them the common 
duties of hospitality, were exceedingly indignant. 
Perhaps Peter and John, because they had a little 
while before this seen the glorified Elijah upon the 
Mount of Transfiguration, and because now they 
were in the very region where Elijah did this 

thing, were forcibly reminded of the fire from. 

heaven, and thought that the greater dignity of their 
Lord should be thus terribly vindicated. 

The Samaritans, in the days of the gospel his- 
tory, were a mixed race, half Jews, half Gentiles. 
They were not esteemed Gentiles, for they dwelt 



FIRE FROM HEAVEN. 275 

within the holy land, kept the law of Moses, prac- 
tised circumcision and refused idolatry ; our Lord, 
who never preached but ^^ to the lost sheep of the 
house of Israel/^ yet preached to them ; and the 
apostles preached at Samaria (Acts viii.) at a time 
when they would not have preached to the Gentiles. 
Acts X. 28. We may properly call the Samaritans 
a sect of Jewish errorists. They recognized the 
only living God, received a part of the Scriptures, 
and kept the Jewish services in part. But they 
had built a temple of their own upon Mount Geri- 
zim, and, refusing the worship at Jerusalem, they 
showed no sympathy with those that paid service 
there. Betw^een the Jews proper and the Samari- 
tans existed many prejudices and alienations. "The 
Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans'^ (John 
iv. 9) we are told in one passage. Yet this does 
not mean they never held intercourse. On the con- 
trary, our Lord remained among them upon their 
own invitation ; and we read that in various ways 
they had some communication. Perhaps the in- 
dignation of the sons of Zebedee was roused for the 
very reason that the Samaritans refused to receive 
our Lord upon religious grounds. He was on his 
way to the feast of Jerusalem, and therefore they 
would show him no hospitality in a Samaritan vil- 
lage. We do not know with how many attendants 
he journeyed. He may have gone with fewer than 
usual; for John's gospel assures us (viii. 10) that 
he went up " secretly'' to this feast. But the reason 



27G THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

of refusing him their hospitalities was, that he was 
on his way to Jerusalem. James and John thought 
this so insulting that they would have it punished 
as Elijah destroyed the companies of Ahaziah's 
soldiers. But their Lord looks upon the matter in 
quite a different light, gives them a mild rebuke of 
the temper they cherished, and calmly seeks shelter 
in another and more hospitable village. 

An old writer remarks significantly, " When two 
persons do the same thing, it is not the same.^'* 
The justifiable acts of good men may be universally 
copied, through differences of time, circumstances, 
motives and results to be secured ; and it becomes 
us here to note the differences, that we may both 
vindicate Elijah in calling down fire from heaven 
and our Lord in refusing so to do. 

There is obviously a very great difference in the 
offences. The sin of the king of Israel was a direct 
and flagrant contempt of God and of Elijah as his 
servant. The controversy between Ahab and 
Elijah was one of many years' standing; many 
judgments had already fallen upon the family and 
upon the kingdom through the iniquity of the 
royal house ; this son, instead of showing any dis- 
position to serve the Lord, gives every token of an 
incorrigible and impenitent mind; he committed 
this presumptuous fault of sending for Elijah to 
take him by force, at the very moment when he 
was himself doomed to die for his tendencies to 
* Cliemnitz, Harmon. Evang. ch. xcv. p. 1787. 



« 



FIRE FROM HEAVEN. 277 

idolatry; and it seemed highly important to give 
proof that Elijah's power to reprove had not ex- 
pired Avith the death of Ahab. 

The offence of the Samaritans was every way dif- 
ferent, in itself and in the motives that prompted 
it. Theirs w^as a serious error, so far as the prin- 
ciple is concerned that lies at the root of it. It is 
the same error that has wrought much mischief in 
various ages ; the same indeed that belonged to the 
two zealous disciples of Jesus at the very moment 
of their indignation against the Samaritans. These 
villagers judged that to maintain their own wor- 
ship implied non-intercourse — perhaps intolerance 
— toward those w^ho worshipped not with them. 
Yet true religion does not justify them in refusing 
the rites of hospitality to needy travellers, simply 
because theirs were different religious sentiments. 
While the sacred Scriptures never make men indif- 
ferent to truth, or teach us that the difference is 
trifling between truth and error ; wdiile indeed they 
bid us not receive into our houses or bid God-speed 
to those who array themselves against the truth ; 
yet all this is widely different from the spirit of in- 
tolerance or persecution, or even of judgment shown 
toward those wdio differ from us. Nothing is of 
higher value than truth ; therefore must we ever 
prize it, must we refuse all compromises with error, 
must we earnestly pursue it ourselves and urge its 
claims upon others. And so we should not receive 
as religious teachers those who proclaim serious 



278 



THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 



errors, nor give them tlie welcome of our hospital- 
ity, nor throw our influence in their favour, 
considered as religious teachers. Still this is very 
different from denying their claims upon our 
humanity, and still more different from saying that 
because we may not favour men's opinion, we may 
persecute their persons. The highest estimate of 
truth leaves us free to hold some intercourse with 
those who do not embrace it, to extend kindness 
and the offices of humanity to its bitterest foes; to 
keep ourselves in a right frame, however wrong 
they may be, and to rely upon the influence of the 
truth to secure truth's best victories. 

We need not think it strange that neither the 
Samaritans nor our Lord's disciples understood the 
true principles of religious toleration, nor could 
discern the just medium between countenancing 
and persecuting religious opinions. The rights of 
conscience were but poorly comprehended for many 
subsequent ages. Our Lord himself, of course, 
understood the whole matter, so he refused to listen 
to his indignant friends, and meekly turned aside 
and sought hospitality elsewhere. And we should 
judge of the error of the Samaritans as he did, 
with due allowance for their prejudices and for the 
age to which they belonged. Besides, their refusal 
to entertain them was attended by no harsh re- 
proaches; to say the most of it, it w^as the mildest 
form of religious bigotry, so that, upon the whole, 
their wrong* was vastly less reprehensible than the 



FIRE FROM HEAVEN. 279 

great wickedness of Ahaziali for which Elijah had 
called down the fire from heaven. 

There should also be noticed a very great differ- 
ence between the prophets. Christ was indeed 
greater than Elijah, and his well-known deeds of 
mercy should have insured him a welcome wherever 
he went. Yet the Samaritans may have known 
him less than the Israelitish king and his soldiers 
knew Elijah. But these differences we should 
rather note — that Elijah was a prophet of the law, 
come to announce the displeasure of God, and ad- 
dressed men in the sternest tones ; while Christ is 
the author of the gospel, secures salvation for men, 
and calls them in mercy to lay hold upon it. The 
divine dispensations to which they respectively 
belong are w^onderfully different. We do not say 
these things as excusing Elijah. He needs no 
apology, for his severity can be fully justified. In 
no proper sense does the grace of the gospel come 
into collision with the righteousness of the law. This 
is the glory of the gospel, that finding no fault with 
the law or with those who teach the law^s lessons, 
it secures what the law cannot. So, though our 
Lord here does not follow Elijah's example, he ex- 
presses no censure upon the judgment wrought by 
the prophet. And not only the author of the 
gospel, but every sinner accepting its mercy, is led 
to magnify the excellency of the law, from whose 
curse he is delivered. The spirit of the law differs 
greatly from the gi-jce of the gospel. And this 



280 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

same John, who Avould now call down fire from 
heaven, came back to Samaria in later years, after 
the outpouring of the Spirit, to preach the gospel 
in many of their villages to the saving of souls. 
Acts viii. 14, 25. 

Besides, there was a great difference between 
Elijah's purpose in calling down fire from heaven 
and the apparent object of the indignant disciples. 
The prophet did not this imj)ortant thing through 
the petulant impulse of personal feeling. To any 
call of private revenge no such answer would have 
been given from the skies. He did thus to vindi- 
cate the majesty of the God of Israel against the 
wickedness of Ahab's house, especially against this 
new insult of King Ahaziah, and to maintain his 
authority as a prophet against the king's menace, 
for Ahaziah sent these soldiers on no peaceful 
errand. No such plea could justify the disciples. 
The Samaritans declined to receive our Lord and 
those that were with him ; but they made no threats, 
and we have no intimations that these were incor- 
rigible sinners, who might now receive the speedy 
wrath of heaven. 

And doubtless our Lord's reproof to his disciples 
may remind his people in all time that we are often 
ignorant of ourselves, and that our apparent zeal 
for him is not always as pure as we imagine. 
Christ's disciples, under his eye, and their brethren 
ever since, might still need Christ's reproof for ex- 
hibiting an unchristian temper. Some persons are 



FIRE FROM HEAVEN. 281 

prone to be censorious from natural disposition ; 
this unhappy temper grows by indulgence^ until 
they are always on the lookout for other people's 
failings ; they imagine that they are zealous for 
religion^ when^ indeed^ there is a large admixture 
of self-ignorance and personal depravity, and they 
need to beware lest the censure of the Saviour truly 
pertains to them. Yet, indeed, this improper spirit 
belongs to no particular class ; it is the sin of our 
fallen nature, and it may often be found where we 
least look for it. It was the beloved disciple, the 
mild and gentle John, that forbade one to cast out 
devils because he followed not his Master (Mark 
ix. 38), and who joined in this request for fire upon 
the Samaritans. Let those who love Christ watch 
against indulging a temper so different from the 
mind of Christ, and learn to know indeed of what 
manner of spirit they are. 

The necessity for watchfulness is the greater 
because there seems good ground for our zeal, and 
we can even plead the example of faithful men. 
The disciples thought to punish a heinous affront, 
and that so doing they would be copying Elijah. 
So we are not without our reasons for the feelings 
we indulge. We may but blame those that deserve 
blame, but we cannot correct wrongs by allowing 
ourselves to do it wongfully ; by using too great 
severity of word or act; by arraying our pride 
against another's pride, our indignation against 
their anger.- We must guard against the deceitful- 



282 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

ne8S of sin, even in our desire to promote the Inter- 
ests of piety. We often take credit for virtuous 
activity when we are but putting forth the actings 
of poor, fallen human nature. All that passes 
under the name of jealousy for the honour of relig- 
ion is very far from being pure zeal for the Lord. 
As Elijah knew not what manner of spirit he was 
of when he fled to Horeb, so did not the disciples 
at the Samaritan village ; so often we do not. 

We are not to excuse the sins of others. They 
may be really as guilty as we think them to be. 
Let us do them no injustice by judging them 
harshly ; let us do no wrong to righteousness by 
aj^proving of sin. But let the Saviour's words 
recall us to a just understanding of our position 
with reference to abounding evils : " The Son of 
man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save 
them." So then, while w^e should be grieved, and 
may be indignant at sin around us, we must not 
forget that the spirit of the gospel is a spirit not of 
judgment, but of love. Looking at Christ, imitat- 
ing his spirit, and obeying his gospel, we must 
especially bear with personal injuries, rather than 
resent them ; while the temper we manifest against 
offences that are public, and contrary to the inter- 
ests of piety, must be guarded from all vindic- 
tiveness. 

If we take either the example or the teachings 
of Christ for our guidance, we may be assured that 
the maintenance of a proper spirit toward others, 



FIRE FROM HEAVEN. 283 

as it is exceedingly difficult for us^ is also one of 
the highest proofs of Christian discipleship. This, 
itself, should make us desirous of knowing truly 
what manner of spirit we are of. Nor are there 
wanting other reasons to induce our watchfulness. 
How excellent is Christ^s personal example ! Who 
ever suffered more, or more unjustly, or with meek- 
ness compared with this one? He was never in 
the wrong ; every insult laid upon him was uncalled 
for ; he was keenly sensitive to all the wickedness 
of men against him ; he gave no provocation when 
they wrought most maliciously to injure him, and, 
without imputing a single false charge to any, he 
saw how grossly his enemies sinned against God's 
law. In all these things we have less reason to be 
bitter and vindictive than he. We are often mis- 
taken as to the guilt of others ; in our differences 
with our fellow-men we also are partly to blame ; 
we judge harshly; we allow our passions to dictate 
rather than a wdse judgment. His mildness and 
our liability to error should soften our decisions and 
forbid censoriousness. 

Besides, we are not ourselves able to abide the 
test to which we w^ould subject others. How 
would these disciples have fared if their Lord had 
applied their own rule to themselves ? They would 
destroy the village that received not the stranger to 
its hospitalities ; what would, after this measure, 
have been the fate of the disciples, who not long 
after all forsook their well-beloved Master, and left 



284 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

him in the hands of his enemies? Or of that 
Peter, who so sadly denied him? And we who 
have so many failings, not just such as are cen- 
sured, but as truly contrary to the teachings of the 
divine word, should ponder well our thoughts, 
when tempted to judge severely of others. 

And let not Christ's disciples forget that our 
Lord has made the exercise of a proper spirit 
toward others the test and proof of our own accept- 
ance before God. We are taught to pray, forgive 
as w^e are forgiven, for as he expressly teaches, only 
as we forgive are we forgiven. Our zeal for God 
must therefore be ever tempered wath the kindly 
spirit that seeks the good of those whose conduct 
we disapprove. However justly they may be 
obnoxious to the divine displeasure, vengeance 
belono;s not to us. Zeal without knowledo::e and 
zeal without love we must watch against. 

But the love of the gospel is not mercy without 
righteousness. We may not speak as though sin 
in any man may look for nothing but impunity. 
lict us not forget that Elijah and Christ are both 
right. The prophet taught the law and denounced 
its judgments upon incorrigible iniquity. Christ 
speaks in the tones of the gospel, and shows its 
forbearance tow^ard man, w^ho may yet be brought 
to repentance. Nor is it hard to vindicate what 
each of them both do and say. The law and the 
gospel are not in conflict. Under the operation of 
one or the other must w^e all come. The law 



FIRE FROM HEAVEN. 285 

speaks in tones of righteousness, binds us to obedi- 
ence^ condemns our guilt. The gospel addresses 
the guilty, recognizes the claims of the law, and 
delivers us by satisfying these. And they who 
will not receive the gospel, rely upon its promises 
and obey its injunctions, must expect the judgment 
of fire which the law calls down. And surely the 
judgment must be more terrible if it is preceded 
by our perverse refusal to accept the mercy offered 
in the gospel. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE THAJS'SLATIOX OF JEZIJAS. 

TT^E now come to the closing scene in the life of 
» T Elijah. The last moments of anv man are 
serious, but amidst the infinite variety of such 
scenes we have one here altogether impressive and 
extraordinary. This man is not allowed to die. 
As Enoch, many centuries- before, had been trans- 
lated that he should not see death, the like privi- 
lege was granted to Elijah, and to no man since 
in all the world's history. And this is one 
advantage respecting the prophet, that the circum- 
stances of his translation are given us for him, as 
they are not for Enoch. Perhaps this event was 
not wholly unexpected. ^Yhether Elijah referred 
to this or not, ten years before (1 Kings, xix. 4) 
the sons of the prophets and Elisha had some pre- 
monitions, though they may not have known just 
what was before them. The sons of the prophets 
were doubtless the pupils of Elijah and Elisha, and 
they, and especially Elisha, were deeply interested. 
Perhaps it was well understood that the younger 
prophet had been divinely designated as the sue- 

2S6 



THE TRANSLATION OF ELIJAH. 28T 

cessor of the elder, and a strong attacliment and 
confidence, ripened by ten years of intimate associa- 
tion, existed between them. 

But the day of separation drew near. In prepa- 
ration for it, Elijah and Elisha visited the different 
schools they had established, and though nothing 
was said upon this express topic, the prophetic spirit 
in the sons of the prophets discerned that to-day 
they looked upon the face of their great teacher for 
the last time. It may have been to test Elisha's 
faith that Elijah asked him to tarry behind, but he 
would not, and they went together. One of the 
schools was at Bethel, as though Elijah would 
show his determined opposition to Jeroboam^s 
idolatry by establishing a theological seminary in 
one of the very cities given to the worship of the 
golden calf. Another was at Jericho, and here, 
after again vainly attempting to send back Elisha, 
the two prophets crossed the Jordan. It may have 
been at the very spot where Joshua, five hundred 
years before, had crossed with all the hosts of 
Israel, that they also crossed. Elijah now repeated 
the miracle of Joshua's time, and taking his mantle 
he smote the river and the waters separated, and 
the two prophets passed through dryshod. Thus 
he shows that the power of w^orking miracles 
remained with him to the last, and in this act is a 
significant symbol of his approaching departure. 
Elijah, in passing through Jordan, passes unchilled, 
untouched by its cold water : he is about to pass 



288 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

from the world, but the icy embrace of death is not 
for him. 

Doubtless the two prophets spent their opportu- 
nity in delightful conversation. The time of pious 
friends is doubtless often misspent; but if the things 
of the kingdom lay nearer our hearts, they would 
oftener burn witliin us as we talked by the way. 
Luke xxiv. 32. And surely here is a special occa- 
sion to make religious conversation of still deeper 
interest. Two friends, that have loved each other 
and laboured together in the service of the same 
Lord for many years, are talking together for the 
last time. It was not like the last interviews often 
held between a feeble, dying man and the friends 
around his bedside. These two prophets possess 
their full faculties of mind and body, and they are 
conscious that they must soon part. We are not 
told what was the special topic of conversation, 
but from Elisha^s last request we may conjecture 
the subject. We suppose Elijah laid before Elisha 
more largely than ever the plans of usefulness he 
had devised for the Church, and told him that upon 
him must now rest the labour of carrying them 
out. 

This great difference must ever exist between 
living for selfish ends, and living for the welfare of 
man and for promoting the divine honour — that 
w-hen a selfish, worldly man dies he can carry 
nothing away, his plans end, his wealth passes into 
other hands ; but at the death of one who lives for 



THE TRANSLATION OF ELIJAH. 289 

great purposes his schemes can as well be carried 
on by others. The prophets die, but succeeding 
prophets take up their work, in a like spirit and to 
the same end. The minister of God is but a work- 
man engaged upon a magnificent temple ; the chief 
Architect ever lives; the original design remains 
unchanged, though many successions of workmen 
pass away; each does his part toward completing 
the building. Upon Elijah's last day, just about 
to receive his honourable discharge, he has not lost 
his interest in the work of his life-time. That he 
spoke of it, and of his interest in its going forward, 
we may gather from Elisha's last request. 

The wish of the younger prophet does great 
credit to his character. He asks not the distin- 
guished honours, the majestic powers, nor the wide 
influence of Elijah, but his spirit. We read it, 
^Het thy DOUBLED-PORTIONED SPIRIT be upou me.'^ 
The full meaning of it refers us to the extraordi- 
nary character borne by the elder prophet. Up to 
this time in the history of the Church, only three 
persons — Moses, Joshua and Elijah — had joined to 
the office of prophet the extraordinary power of 
working miracles. This was the double-portioned 
spirit, above the gifts of an ordinary prophet, and 
not usual in the Church, that Elisha desired. So 
great a gift Elijah dare not promise. He knew that 
Elisha was to be his successor; but this is a matter 
that must be referred directly to God. All there- 
fore that he could do was to give a token by which 

19 



290 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

Elisha might know the acceptance or rejection of 
his request. If he was allowed to witness Elijah's 
departure, this would be a token of divine accept- 
ance; but if the prophet should be mysteriously 
and invisibly snatched away, then his request 
would be denied. Elisha asked a great thing, but 
he desu^d to use these great gifts for the divine 
glory. AVe may admire the riches of his grace, 
tliat no man is reproved for having too large desires 
after spiritual gifts or graces. 

As the prophets walked together, still engaged in 
conversation, they were suddenly separated. Elisha 
saw what he desired to see. Celestial messengers, 
like a burning chariot drawn by horses of fire, bore 
away the elder prophet from his side. In the great 
grief of the separation, and in token that he saw 
him, he called out; and Elijah answered by another 
token that he was done with the earth, and that 
he rejoiced that his friend's request was granted. 
The mantle of the ascending prophet dropped from 
his shoulders as he was carried up, and Elisha 
gladly received it at once as a sacred memorial and 
as a token of his own future duties. 

When Elisha returned to the Jordan he put his 
newly-gained '' faith of miracles'" into direct exer- 
cise. He smote the waters with the mantle of 
Elijah, calling upon Elijah's God, and passed dry- 
shod through the divided waters. From that time 
onward he was for many years a prophet in Israel, 
and exercised the double-portioned spirit of his 



I 



THE TRANSLATION OF ELIJAH. 291 

predecessor. We need make no comparison between 
them upon the score of piety ; his character was 
milder, his miracles more numerous, but of mild 
and beneficent tendency, in contrast with those of 
Elijah ; in his times religion had more influence 
than in the present age; but for this, doubtless 
preparation had been made by Elijah ^s labors; and 
Elisha^s services were longer than those of Elijah. 
But without instituting a comparison between the 
two, we may rejoice in that divine care which 
watches over his Church. The fathers are removed, 
the prophets do not live for ever, yet w^hen he 
removes one servant the great Head of the Church 
gives another to occupy his room. Here Elijah is 
taken away, but Elisha lifts the fallen mantle of 
the prophet ; so in far later times and far differ- 
ently, when Stephen died a martyr's death, divine 
grace gave the Church his successor in the perse- 
cuting Saul. 

The translation of Elijah is an event so extraor- 
dinary in the history of the Church that we should 
ponder the lessons taught by its record upon the 
sacred pages. 

We may well regard this great event as a special 
mark of the divine favour to Elijah's eminent piety, 
though indeed any service that man can render to 
his God is but our reasonable return for many 
given ; and thus we all may say with David : '' Of 
thine own do we give thee ;" yet God is pleased 
with the cheerful, believing obedience of his people. 



292 THE TRAXSLATED PROPHET. 

And when we consider the times in which he lived, 
the severe and long-continued trials he endured, and 
his boldness and faithfulness in duty, we may well 
esteem Elijah as an earnest and faithful follower of 
God. He was an eminent believer. The voice of 
prayer from his lips had power with God to shut or 
open heaven, or to bring down the fiery answers of 
mercy or of judgment. Yet his faith did not lift 
him above the necessity of suffering : rather, it may 
be that his faith found its severest exercise as asso- 
ciated with his patient waiting by the brook Cherith 
and in the house of the Gentile widow. Strange 
that one who can do such w^onders must still be a 
patient waiter ; yet thus we see Elijah's piety and 
his utter dependence upon God. All through his 
history we see his boldness and zeal, only the more 
remarkable for the proofs that he was not exempt 
from human infirmity. 

We easily judge that such a mark of God's 
favour would be given only to a servant highly 
approved ; yet let us not rashly conclude that no 
other prophets or believers ever stood so high as he, 
because no man since his day has made such a 
journey to the sky. ^o man but an eminent 
believer would be translated ; yet servants as ap- 
proved and beloved as he may have passed through 
the grave. It is a difficult and delicate task to 
compare the character, the piety or the usefulness 
of two persons of acknowledged excellence ; and it 
is still more difficult to judge of the divine favour 



THE TRANSLATION OF ELIJAH. 293 

toward men from the dealings of providence and 
grace as we can discern them. Some of the most 
active and earnest Christians have met death with- 
out any marked testimony to Christ's supporting 
grace; and some have died triumphantly whose 
previous life has given but little evidence of supe- 
rior faith. 

The translation of Elijah had its public bearings 
alsa upon the faith of God's people, declaring things 
they should believe, and perhaps rescuing import- 
ant truths of revelation from special reproach cast 
upon them in that degenerate age. When the 
smoke of BaaFs altars had darkened the sky of 
Israel the true light must again shine. Amidst the 
chaos of religious opinions then to be found iu 
the land, skepticism came among the clashing 
dogmas that claimed men's thoughts, and some men 
argued because there were many religions there 
really need be none. In all ages this is the fruit 
of human depravity. We are less surprised that it 
was so with the long-lived race before the deluge. 
For then men lived to years that seem to us almost 
interminable ; they became hardened in sin by long 
impunity; they saw^ their fellows gradually sink 
around them in the dust ; but the future life ^vas an 
invisible existence, and they may have argued that 
there is no future life. So the translation of a holy 
man like Enoch gave proof of the soul's immor- 
tality. And in the miserable days when Elijah 
preached there was need to repeat the lesson, and 



294 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

the prophet was borne awa}' on a chariot of fire. 
But in the sacred Scriptures the immortaHty of the 
soul is not an isolated doctrine. The body of 
man is redeemed dust through the gospel's power. 
Salvation is both of the soul and of the body. 
Deathj as it ordinarily occurs, is the separation of 
soul and spirit ; therefore they are not so one that 
they cannot exist apart, but both are to be posses- 
sors of immortal life. So the translation of Enoch 
and Elijah were significant examples to teach the 
Church that, soiil and body, shall believers dwell 
with God. Yet also the falling mantle of the 
ascending Elijah may have suggested that such 
changes would occur as would lift them above all 
earthly necessities, for their bodies would be fash- 
ioned to suit the spiritual engagements of the upper 
world. And doubtless in heaven itself the gather- 
ing hosts of the redeemed have been allowed to see 
in Enoch and Elijah what their bodies shall one day 
be when the Redeemer's power shall raise them 
from the dust. 

Perhaps not less important in this extraordinary 
event was the proof afforded that death is a con- 
quered foe. Christ's salvation, even before his suf- 
ferings on the cross, was a victory over death, 
especially since he took away the monster's sting 
and robbed the grave of victory. It is not because 
his arm is too weak to hold back our foe that any 
of his people must meet death. The claims of 
justice, as such, are satisfied. The right to trans- 



THE TRANSLATION OF ELIJAH. 295 

late 07ie implies the right to translate every right- 
eous man ; but for important reasons death occurs 
to men redeemed by the blood of Christ. Yet the 
translation of two in those former days gives assur- 
ance that salvation is both of the body and the 
spirit. 

And we can hardly think of Elijah's translation 
without being reminded of the ascension of Christ. 
To him Elijah held the relation of servant. We 
therefore look for a great superiority in the Master's 
ascension. This belongs in part to the fact that our 
Lord's ascension was preceded by his resurrection 
from the grave. In Elijah death was deprived of 
a victim. For the most important reasons, the 
Mediator first submitted to the stroke of death, and 
then reclaimed his uncorrupted body from its 
power. He did not escape from death, but he con- 
quered this great foe. So he proves more fully 
than the prophets the resurrection of the body. 

And the ascension of our Lord was itself supe- 
rior to that of Elijah. That was indeed a splendid 
passage to the sky when the faithful prophet was 
borne upward on a chariot of fire. But the celes- 
tial chariot rather gives evidence of the prophet's 
weakness. But for the chariot he could not have 
gone up. With the Redeemer it was far otherwise. 
He needed no aid. Even in the days of his hu- 
miliation he could walk upon the stormy waves 
and calm the raging waters to peace. So also, when 
his humiliation was past, it was fit that he should 



296 THE TRANSLATED PKOPHET. 

pass through the air by his own power. It is proof 
of his dignity that no visible chariot waited upon 
him and bore him away. The servant could not 
otherwise go ; the Master could. Yet was he not 
unattended. The day of Christ's ascending on 
high was a jubilee in heaven. He had left the 
glory which he had with the Father before the 
world was ; before the wondering gaze of angels he 
had become a man of sorrows ; heaven itself had 
been filled with amazement and sympathies un- 
known before, as angels and redeemed saints had 
pondered his earthly mission ; and he had declared 
this great work finished as he hung upon the 
cross. Can we thiuk less than that his return in 
triumph would fill heaven with joy ? The hosts 
of the blessed world throng the portals of paradise 
to bid him welcome ; angels, who worshipped him 
at his entrance into the world, would more devoutly 
worship as he left the earth ; redeemed souls would 
rejoice as he led captivity captive. 

We are not indulging here in any flights of 
fancy. The inspired writers tell us that crowds of 
attending holy ones welcomed the Redeemer's as- 
cension. In Ps. Ixviii. the prophet declares that 
twenty thousand chariots and thousands of angels 
should attend the ascending Saviour. The Apostle 
Paul quotes the passage and applies it to the ascen- 
sion of Christ. Eph. iv. 8-10. And the responses 
of Psalm xxiv. suit this great occasion. It seems 
to represent the assembly above gathered at hea- 



THE TRANSLATION OF ELIJAH. 297 

yen's doors for the coming of the triumphant King 
and the crowd of attendants aj^proaching in his 
company. These sing in responsive utterances. 
First, the ascending thousands demand entrance for 
him and his triumphant train : '' Lift up your 
heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlast- 
ing doors, and the King of glory shall come in.'' 
The others answer, '' Who is this King of glory ?" 
The answer is made and demand repeated, " The 
Lord, strong and mighty: the Lord, mighty in bat- 
tle ! Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them 
up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory 
shall come in." Then again the responses swell : 
'' Who is this King of glory ? The Lord of hosts, 
he is the King of glory." 

Elijah's separation from his work on earth should 
serve to remind us that a life of faith in God's ser- 
vice here is very near to a life of glory in God's 
presence in heaven. From walking with his dis- 
ciples in the halls of Bethel and Jericho, and with 
his fellow-prophet on the banks of the Jordan, the 
transition is swift to the streets of the new Jerusa- 
lem and a walk upon the banks of the river of 
life. We cannot overlook the manner of this, for 
though the manner is not the thing of greatest im- 
portance, it teaches much. It is worthy of notice 
that each of the three great dispensations of tlie 
Church of God has been signalized by a bodily 
ascension to heaven. In the patriarchal times, 
Enoch ; in the Levitical age, Elijah ; in the Chris- 



298 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

tian dispensation, our Lord himself ascended up 
on high. We have no reason to believe that Christ 
ascended to a different place than that where Enoch 
and Elijah already were. The Romish Church, 
seeming to delight in imaginary dogmas that rob 
God of his glory and saints of their bliss, not con- 
tent w^ith her unfounded notions of purgatory, has 
affirmed that believers, dying before the death of 
Christ, were not admitted to heaven at all, but de- 
tained in a kind of prison to await his resurrection. 
And there are some who deny now that dying 
saints are immediately received to glory ; they also 
must await their own resurrection. The Avord of 
God gives no reason to judge either of these things 
true. Elijah undoubtedly passed to glory (see 
Luke ix. 31), and the change was complete from 
earth to heaven. One moment walking on earth, 
talking in earthly language, with earthly affections 
and of earthly things, and the next changed in soul 
and body, ^^ in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Cor. xv. 
52), in preparation for heaven, borne upw^ard in a 
chariot of fire; allowed to enter upon new scenes, 
new engagements and new joys, and associated 
with companions from wdiom he should part no 
more for ever ! 

And little as we seem to realize it, such a change 
aw'aits every humble follower of Elijah's faith. 
Not a translation indeed. This we need not, in 
order to gain every substantial benefit given to 
Elijah. There is now^ also a touching reason why 



THE TRANSLATION OF ELIJAH. 299 

believers, even shrinking from the tomb, should 
not wish to escape it. The grave was the resting- 
place of our glorious Lord, and we should not care 
to avoid the lowly pillow where he laid his head. 
The dark ground is robbed of its terrors since the 
Lord of life lay in the tomb and rose from it. 

" The graves of all his saints he blessed, 
And softened every bed." 

And the same essential blessedness, before the same 
God, in the same heaven, and w^ith the same sud- 
den transition, awaits every believer. However 
gradual its approach and with whatsoever premo- 
nitions, the change itself will be suddenly complete 
and will be glorious beyond our imaginings. 

" In vain the fancy strives to paint 
The moment after death, 
The glories that await the saint 
When yielding up his breath." 

One moment a sinner, filled with fears and anxiety, 
and breathing only sighs — the next, free from sin 
and fear and grief for ever, and borne by the angels 
into Abraham^s basom. 

Believers in Christ do not live up to their prin- 
ciples unless they live in anticipation of this great 
change, and strive to remember that it may very 
soon occur. It may be that Elijah had some notice 
of his coming departure. Providential tokens are 
often given to us. The gradual march of time, the 



300 TEE Ttt\X >T,ATFT> PROPHET. 

natural waning of bodily strength, or the attacks 
of disease may bid os look forward to onr early 
decease ; bat we all are liable to meet the last foe 
withont forewarning of his hoar, and onr earthly 
plans may at any time be interrnpted by the sadden 
sammons away. Xothing more becomes as than 
that holy and spiritual life that constantly waits for 
life's close. Happy they who so care for the inter- 
ests of religion and the souls of perishing men that 
the King's me^enger does not surprise them as 
slothful servants, and wh(^e last words and thoughts 
are for Zion. The very ignorance in which we are 
kept of life's closing day should keep us ever watch- 
fiiL We certainly know that it is nearer now than 
ever ; should to-morrow come for us, death will be 
that much nearer than it is to day ; thus we seem 
to reside next door to eternity ; and we may, upon 
any day, step over the narrow boundary. 

It becomes us to live in constant preparation for 
Ae inevitable chang^e that mav be so rforious. Let 
US remember that it may come equally unexpected, 
as it is equally certain, whether we are prepared or 
not, Ahab and Jezebel, both as suddenly as Elijah, 
left the scenes of their earthly labours. In the 
morning the guilty king, forewarned of his fate, 
went forth to battle, and as night foil upon the 
earth he entered the more gloomy night of the 
eternal world. As we cannot imagine Elijah's 
change, we wish not to tbllow the departing spirits 
of his wicked opposers. Certainly no chariots of 



THE TRANSLATION OF ELIJAH. 301 

angels waited around the smitten king of Israel, 
no songs of praise attended him to eternity. An 
infinite difference exists between the dying sinner 
and the dying saint. The manner of departure is 
of small consequence. The dying beggar may have 
dogs only to lick his sores; the dying Dives may 
be attended by every act of friendly kindness, but 
heaven and hell may separate them with a gulf im- 
passable. And if a friend of God may at any hour 
be called upward, an impenitent sinner may at any 
moment sink to hell. The dread portals of eternity 
stand ever open, and men every hour pass away 
from time. 

We can only pass safely over the final Jordan 
when we have something of the prophet^s faith, and 
say : ^^ Where is the Lord God of Elijah f 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



J^OSTHTT3IOUS INFLTTENCE, 



IN 2 Chron. xxi. 12 we read in a brief abstract 
of the reign of Joram or Jehoram, the son of 
Jehoshaphat, king of Judah^ this singular an- 
nouncement : ^^And there came a writing to him 
from Elijah the prophet/^ The contents of the 
letter gave severe threatenings against the wicked 
king for his iniquities. We need not suppose that 
these were immediately fulfilled^ though the record 
of their fulfilment follows immediately the copy of 
the letter. The peculiarities of the case are two: 
First, that here we have the only instance of the 
exercise of Elijah's prophetical office toward the 
kings or the people of Judah ; his ministry being 
otherwise confined to the kingdom of the ten tribes. 
Secondly, that apparently this writing came after 
the prophet had left the earth, being, as some sup- 
pose, sent from Elijah in heaven, or as others think, 
dictated to Elisha. Others suppose that there is a 
misreading in the passage, and it ought to read : 
^^ there came a letter from Elisha the prophet /' or 
that it was written in the spirit of prophecy, and 

302 



POSTHUMOUS INFLUENCE. 303 

left to be sent at the proper time ; or again, that 
another prophet, bearing the name of Elijah, but 
not the Tishbite, sent the letter. 

If this letter came from the translated Elijah, it 
is the only instance in the Scriptures of direct in- 
fluence upon living men by any of God^s servants 
who had ceased from their earthly duties. Labours 
performed, words spoken, writings prepared, often 
have far larger influence after the death of pious 
menthan during their lives; but the rule of God's 
house has been that the close of earthly life is the 
close of earthly labour. We need not wonder that 
Elijah sends this reproving letter to the king of 
Judah, for the commission of the Hebrew prophets 
might surely be to the entire Hebrew people, since 
they did not hesitate to reprove the Gentile nations 
around them, and by making alliances with Ahab, 
Jehoshaphat and Jehoram had become partakers of 
his sins, his judgments and his rebukes, especially 
from the lips of Elijah. 

The perplexities of this passage w^ill perhaps be 
sufficiently solved if we show that the letter could 
have been both written and sent during the life- 
^ time of the prophet, and that in all likelihood this 
is the true statement of the case. The record in 2 
Chron. xxi. 12 seems to occur so long after the 
translation of Elijah as to leave the impression that 
the event was a late one. But, as we have already 
intimated, the entire passage is a brief abstract of 
the whole reign of Jehoram, and as this is the only 



304 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

mention in the Book of Chronicles touching Elijah 
at all, we cannot decide that it gives an anachronism 
unless we can show that the prophet's translation 
preceded the accession of Jehoram to the throne of 
Judah. If Jehoram was reigning as king of Judah 
while Elijah was still upon the earth, if he 
deserved the prophet's rebuke for his wickedness, 
then we may reasonably conclude that this warn- 
ing letter, preceding its own fulfilment by perhaps 
ten years, was yet written before the translation of 
its author. 

Doubtless Jehoshaphat was still alive after 
Elijah had left the earth. He engaged in a war 
with Moab as the ally of Israel, when both kings 
w^ere compelled to appeal to Elisha for help and 
deliverance. (2 Kings iii.) But it seems just as 
certain that his son Joram or Jehoram was associ- 
ated upon the throne of Judah with Jehoshaphat 
during the father's life-time, 2 Kings viii. 16; and 
indeed the death of Ahaziah, king of Israel, which 
took place at the Avord of Elijah, occurred in the 
second year of the reign of Jehoram, i, e., of his reign 
as associated with Jehoshaphat his father. (2 Kings 
i. 17.) So Jehoram was king while Elijah was 
still on the earth, and being the son-in-law of 
Ahab, and attached to the follies of that idola- 
trous house, the prophet easily foresaw his wicked- 
ness and declared his miserable end. 

We may add to all this that the record gives no 
token, as though some surprising thing was said, 



POSTHUMOUS INFLUENCE. 305 

that here Is an account of a mysterious letter from 
the ascended prophet.* 

The prophet Elijah is further remarkable for 
expectations awakened concerning him by declara- 
tions of the later Scriptures. The prophet Malaehi, 
in the closing words of the Old Testament, speaks 
thus of him : " Behold I will send you Elijah, the 
prophet, before the coming of the great and terrible 
day of the Lord.^^ The singular, mysterious man- 
ner of Elijah's disappearance, and the fears expressed 
by the sons of the prophets that the Spirit of the 
Lord might cast him down, may have led to fan- 
ciful interpretations of these words of Malachi. 
As Elijah was taken away bodily, so the Jews 
expected his literal return in the flesh. An early 
trace of this 0})inion may be found in the Apocry- 
pha, though this seems indistinct. (Eccles. xlviii. 10.) 
And in the New Testament times the coming of 
Elijah was looked for before the advent of the 
Messiah, and to this day the Jews look for it and 
pray for it as preceding that of the Christ. And 
many literal ists among Christians believe that all is 
not yet fulfilled which the Scriptures declare con- 
cerning the coming of Elijah. 

But we suppose that in the coming and in the 
prophetic mission of John the Baptist Ave have the 
fulfilment of the words of Malachi. That in some 
sense John was the Elijah spoken of should be 

* See Witsius, De Proplietis et Prophetia, L Gl, b, xlvi. &c ; 
Buddeiifi Hist. Eccl, Smith's Diet. Bible. 
20 



306 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

esteemed indisputable. When the angel foretold 
to Zacharias the l)irth of his ehild, his words have 
an evident reference to the language of the Old 
Testament prophet, Mai. iv. 5, 6 : '' He shall go 
before him in the spirit and the power of Elias to 
turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and 
the disobedient to the wisdom of the just.'^ Luke 
i. 17. And our Lord Jesus expressly taught his 
disciples that John was the predicted Elijah. Matt. 
xi. 14; xvii. 10-13. 

We suppose nothing more is required to fulfil 
the prediction of ]\Ialachi than may be found in 
the character, commission and engagements of John 
the Baptist. It is no serious objection that John 
himself declared that he was not Elijah. He was 
not personally, and as " Moses wist not that his 
face shone,^^ John may not have been conscious of 
the honour thus given to him. It w^as not the 
ascended Elijah that should return to the earth. 
He was to be represented by one who as to his 
personal appearance and manners, and still more as 
to his official character and influence as a prophet, 
should have Elijah as his exemplar. Elijah dressed 
in coarse hairy garments, used great abstemiousness, 
watched closely over the morals of the people, and 
was a stern Reformer. So John in the wilderness 
was clothed in raiment of cameFs hair, ate the 
wild products of the region around him, and 
aw^akened the guilty consciences of a degenerate 
people by his alarming discourses. As Elijah's 



POSTHUMOUS INFLUENCE. 307 

ministry was one of law and judgment, whose 
influence was preparatory to larger success under 
the milder ministry of Elisha, so John^s preaching 
spoke much of the wrath to come and of the neces- 
sity of repentance. 

And in this respect, John or Elijah ever comes 
before Christ, the law before the gospel, that for a 
people, or for an individual soul, there is a pre- 
paratory work of awakening and instruction that 
is introductory to the workings of grace. ^^ The 
spirit and power of Elijah " the soul of man must 
feel before he is prepared to rejoice in the great 
and gracious day of the Lord, 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE MOUNT OF TJRANSFIGUBATIOX, 

SCAECELY less remarkable than the translation 
itself was the appearance of Elijah with Moses, 
nine centuries later, at the glorious Transfiguration 
of our blessed Lord upon what one of the apostles 
calls the Holy Mount. 

A full consideration of this scene pertains to the 
life of Jesus, yet cannot be properly omitted in our 
meditations upon Elijah. Three evangelists give 
us the account. Taking with him his three favour- 
ite disciples, Peter and James and John, our Lord 
went up to a mountain top for purposes of devo- 
tion. We need not attempt to settle the question, 
Upon what mountain did this glorious scene occur ? 
Tradition fixed long on Mount Tabor ; many still 
maintain this view, though later investigators, find- 
ing reasons for refusing to believe that Tabor was 
the place, have mclined to one of the crests of 
Mount Hermon.* But the Transfiguration itself 
was wondrous, occur where it may. The humble 
form of the Son of Man took on it a splendour his 
disciples had never before seen. The glory of his 

^ See the Land and the Book, i. 348. 
308 



THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION. 809 

person was revealed, his face and raiment shone 
with unearthly brightness, and he was suddenly 
attended by two celestial visitors. That the dis- 
ciples intuitively recognized these as Moses and 
Elijah, may inthiiate that heavenly recognitions will 
be easy, even of those unknown before. But what 
three persons are these together ? Moses, the giver 
of the law, Elijah, its restorer, Jesus, its author 
and fulfiUer — the three great workers of miracles in 
the Church of God, perhaps, including the disciples, 
the representatives of the entire Church of God, 
— standing thus together with their blessed Plead. 
Moses represented the great body of glorified 
saints whose bodies were yet in the dust, and who 
therefore look forward to the resurrection as the day 
of their full redemption ; Elijah, possessing already 
his glorified body, was thus a representative of all 
the Church as it shall be, and Peter, James and 
John representatives of the earthly and still militant 
Church. 

These celestial visitors appeared in glory ; that 
is, they were inhabitants of the world of glory, and 
so appeared as they were wont to there. It is need- 
less here to conjecture whether there w^as a visible 
difference between them ; the body of Moses was 
buried ; the body of Elijah was carried upward in 
the glorious chariot. We know too little of the 
mode of the souFs existence in the eternal world to 
allow of more than vague conjectures, in which now 
it would be unprofitable to indulge. 



310 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

In this great vision the opinions of the Jews 
around Jesus that he was Elijah, or one of the 
old prophets (Matt. xvi. 14), were refuted, for here 
Moses, Elijah and Jesus are three distinct persons; 
the difference between the servants and the Master 
is sufficiently shown; and the chief prophets of the 
Old Testament renew theu' testimony to the great 
Messiah. This Transfiguration scene was a marked 
epoch of Christ's history, and may have been de- 
signed to prepare the Mediator, now in his estate 
of humiliation, for the great engagements before 
him. The three disciples long remembered the 
Transfiguration for the testimony there given to their 
Lord's dignity. Xot only his changed appearance, 
but the voice from heaven expressly recognizing 
him as '^ my beloved Son,'^ made a deep and abid- 
ing impression upon them. Doubtless they were 
prepared to do and to suffer more in his service, 
since they were thus allowed to see and hear the 
lessons of this ''holy mount.'' 

And how can we think of this scene without 
recognizing the unity of the Church of God — dis- 
regarding, not only the separations of centuries, but 
the separations between time and eternity ? The 
chief representatives of the Old Testament Church 
wait upon and pay every respect to the founder of 
the Xew Dispensation. Representatives of what 
the Church is and shall be in glory come down to 
talk in earthly language and of earthly events with 
the Redeemer, who yet wears his earthly garments. 



THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION. 311 

So the Church of all ages is one; so indeed the 
Church in heaven has but made further advance- 
ments in the same service, and they too are one 
with us : 

"One family we dwell in hira, 

One Church above, beneath ; . . . , 
One army of the living God, 
To his commands we bow ; 
Part of the host have crossed the flood, 
And part are crossing now." 

The great topic of conversation between our Lord 
and his celestial visitors is told us. The bond of 
deepest interest uniting redeemed men in all ages, 
on earth and in glory, is the death of the Mediator. 
It is the burden of the song of heaven, '' Thou 
wast slain and hast redemed us unto God by thy 
blood. '^ So these representatives of their brethren 
^^ spoke of his decease which he should accomplish at 
Jerusalem. ^^ We know not what they said; enough 
to know the topic. They knew the sorrow, and 
they did not disguise the shame of that decease ; 
nor did they esteem it any incongruity to speak of 
his death in this hour of his glory, when we might 
be ready to judge that such an one as he could 
never die at all. They knew, rather, that the 
divine excellency of his person, some rays of 
which dazzled earthly eyes, w^as his fitting prepara- 
tion for a death which without this dignity could 
be of no avail for man's salvation. In their view 
were harmoniously united the necessity of this 



312 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

atoning death and its unfailing efficacy. The 
end of many promises and hopes now drew on; the 
saints in bliss love to talk of the Redeemer's death, 
and the only theme suitable to the glory of the 
Transfiguration hour is the shame of the cross. 

The DEATH OF Christ is the great theme of all 
the Bible. From the first altar of Genesis to the 
final benediction of the Apocalypse, to ^^him gave 
all the prophets witness. ^^ But the scene of Trans- 
figuration is the turning-point between the obscu- 
rity of the Old and the plainness of the N^ew 
Testament upon this great theme. Just before this 
he began (Matt. xvi. 21), and ever afterward he 
continued, to speak plainly of his coming decease; 
and the minds of his three disciples should have 
been anxious to hear these most important of all 
their lessons. Blessed are the ears, we are ready to 
say, that heard such a conversation concerning such 
a theme ! What enlarged views of the plan of sal- 
vation did they gain that night ! how amazed were 
they to hear that sorrow could lay its touch on the 
glorious Lord then present ! how prepared would 
they soon be to sympathize w'ith their suffering 
Master! Alas! we are negligent to improve our 
noblest opportunities, and it is difficult for earthly 
minds like ours to be deeply interested in spiritual 
things. We cannot say that our Lord\s favoured 
disciples had no enjoyment of the Transfiguration. 
Peter exclaimed : " It is good for us to be here.'^ 
But he spake thus, '' not knowing what to say,^^ so 



THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION. 313 

amazed was he, and ^^ not knov/Ing what he said/' 
for indeed it was talk at random to propose that 
celestial visitors should make their home on earth. 
But how strange the record which reveals that per- 
haps these favoured men heard little after all of 
this heavenly conversation : '' Peter and they that 
were with him were heavy with sleep.'' It may be 
a partial apology that the interview on the moun- 
tain was long, and that the conversation continued 
perhaps the chief part of the night. The next day 
they came down from the mountain. Luke ix. 37. 
Yet the disciples give proof of a strange lack of in- 
terest that they could sleep when such themes 
engage such lips. Even the highest privileges may 
be lost through our apathy. These disciples saw 
the glory of Christ and the forms of redeemed men ; 
they heard heavenly conversation upon the very 
topic which should possess most interest for sinners. 
But they could not watch, and their profiting w^as 
little. 

It may be from the remembrance of this that the 
Apostle Peter, in speaking of the Transfigiu-ation 
scene, makes the possession of God's written word 
a better method of instruction. It seems natural 
for men to desire and prefer the miraculous to ordi- 
nary and plain .teachings. Yet let us not suppose 
that any teachings are readily received by a per- 
verse and unwilling mind. Men have seen mira- 
cles, men have wrougld miracles, without knowing 
in their own experience the power of true religion. 



314 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

We need not undervalue exalted privileges, yet we 
are not to suppose that we would certainly improve 
them better than those we now possess. The sacred 
writers take great pains to warn us of a deceit too 
common upon this point. On the one hand, thous- 
ands that saw Christ and his apostles, and wit- 
nessed their miracles, found not the salvation of 
the gospel ; and on the other hand, tens of thous- 
ands have drawn near to God, taught by the simple 
word of his truth. Indeed, our blessed Lord seems 
to declare for them a special and larger blessing, 
^^ Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have 
believed.'^ It is far more important that we should 
use well the privileges given to us than that we 
should consider how much better we would do 
under other circumstances ; for, in the first place, 
such thoughts are usually delusive, and in the iiext 
and main place, there is great reason to question 
whether any age has ever possessed clearer teach- 
ings than those given to us, or had better advan- 
tages for obedience. 

The Apostle Peter did not undervalue the prlv- 
ilesres of the Mount of Transfio:uration ; rather, as 
an eye-witness of his Lord's majesty, he knew that 
the gospel was no " cunningly devised fable.^^ Yet 
manifestly even a sight so glorious would exhibit 
less of doctrine to show us what the gospel teaches 
than of evidence to prove that its teachings must be 
true. But men want both of these, and we have 
both in the written word of God; and having in 



THE MOUNT OF TKANSFIGURATION. 315 

the written word sufficient evidence that these 
teachings are true, we have opportunities superior 
to know what those teachings are. So the apostle, 
even in contrast with the Transfiguration, calls the 
sacred Scriptures '^ a more sure word of prophecy/^ 
It is with an unreasonable demand for new evi- 
dences that men say : '' If one should come from 
the dead we would believe.'^ And no principle of 
truth to warn, to instruct, to guide the inquiring 
soul could be given us by any marvellous sight 
that is not sufficiently given, perhaps better given, 
in the sacred pages already. Whatever of miracu- 
lous evidences was needed to establish the divine 
commission of the sacred writers was afforded to 
them, and the proof of this has been sufficiently 
confirmed to satisfy every candid mind ; to these 
proofs innumerable testimonials add their strength ; 
and witnesses of most remarkable character, beyond 
the possibility of imposture or collusion, join to 
establish our faith. What men need chiefly for all 
later ages is an actual knowledge of the principles 
and duties that are needed to restore fallen man to 
the image of his Maker, and to prepare him for the 
service of his God. We understand the apostle to 
affirm that God has given us the very best means 
of instruction in the volume of his written word. 

Here, in a form sufficiently brief, yet permanent 
and accessible, men have all the teachings needful 
for a godly life. Now that the great scheme of 
man's redemption is fully revealed^ the volume of 



316 THE TRANSLATED p-ROPHET. 

divine truth is complete, and may be handed down 
from generation to generation while time shall last. 
As man everywhere is the same, as each age pos- 
sesses the same general character, labours under the 
same necessities, and needs a like relief, the same 
teachings are suitable, and we may have greater 
confidence in principles that have instructed and 
supported thousands in trials like our own. And 
the written form of these great teachings makes 
them not only more permanent and accessible, but 
also more intelligible. Let a man see the most 
remarkable sights, and the impression fades; let 
him hear the most instructive words, and the 
memory forgets ; we cannot tenaciously hold any- 
thing that includes many objects and many 
thoughts. Some of us have heard the Bible pub- 
licly read in our churches times without number 
in all our lives, and yet if our knowledge of the 
sacred volume depended solely upon this source of 
information, how meagre would be our acquaint- 
ance with it ! To have the book in our own hands; 
to read the very words which holy men have 
written at the Spirit's promptings; to have familiar 
access to it, — how superior is this method of teach- 
ing us to all that our thoughts can devise! 

Besides w^e know from experience that the 
profiting of any pupil depends only partially upon 
the skill and wisdom of the teacher, but very 
much also upon the attention and seriousness 
of the scholar himself. What wisdom can benefit 



THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION. 317 

him who has ears but will not hear, or what profit- 
ing was there, even upon the mount of the Saviour's 
glory, while Peter and the disciples were heavy 
with sleep ? But herein have we a great advantage 
in the wTitten word of God, that it may be our 
teacher in our most favourable hours ; we may study 
it in the quiet of our closets, the distracting world 
shut out; with these pages alone before our eyes, 
and the eye of its Author alone upon us, we may 
choose our most favorable seasons, may seek out 
the passages best suited to our own necessities, may 
reproduce and deepen impressions that would other- 
wise fade, and may learn more thoroughly the 
lessons that our souls most need. And whatever 
we may think of the awe and solemnity that might 
be produced upon our minds if we were allowed to 
witness some supernatural event, it may very well 
be questioned whether any such event would be 
better adapted to make a favourable impression upon 
us than the serious, prayerful perusal of God's 
holy word. There is a calm and impressive 
solemnity in these sacred pages which gives them 
inexplicable power over the hearts of men ; tho 
motives from every quarter that are here urged 
ui)on us are as weighty as ever address us, and the 
man who seriously and carefully reads the Bible, and 
is not, by this serious reading, led to repentance and 
a better life, is ready to resist any other influences, 
and '^ would not be persuaded though one rose from 
the dead.'' 



318 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

Yet Indeed let us not forget that, for the full 
understanding of God's word, God's own Spirit 
must enlighten our minds. This it is that should 
make us not only serious but prayerful in our etTorts 
to learn the most important truths that have ever 
addressed the mind of man. It is a serious respon- 
sibility that belongs to any man when he owns a 
Bible. Let not the truth that this is a blessing so 
common to us prevent us from recognizing how 
serious a thing this is. What would we all be to- 
day if we had never seen a Bible ? Ask the 
myriads of benighted Africa or the millions of 
conceited China. Barbarian and philosopher are 
alike in this, that they know not God. In the 
great day, wdien we shall stand before the Judge of 
all the earth, no charge will be more serious to lay 
at any man's door than that he owned a neglected 
Bible — that he kept but used not the key that opens 
the door of Paradise. In that great day many will 
bless God for this same w^ord of prophecy, from 
which they have learned their sin and ruin, and the 
mercy of God through Christ for their salvation. 
Happy are they who prize these teachings at their 
real value, who not only read but pray humbly that 
the holy Spirit may guide them into all truth, and 
make known to them the one Name which chiefly 
this blessed book reveals. 

For as it was upon the Mount of Transfiguration, 
so is it our studying the life of any personage of 
the Bible : so should it be in our chief impression of 



THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION. 319 

the whole book : one chief figure occupies our 
thoughts. Though the disciples saw Moses and 
Elias^ they came as attendants upon Jesus; the voice 
from heaven spake of him alone; and when the 
others disappeared the disciples saw no man save 
Jesus only, Jesus only ! So let us read the 
sacred volume, so let all its teachings speak to our 
hearts, so let us feel that we find nothing truly in 
all these divine revelations unless we find him. 
We find not indeed the same directness of relation 
to Christ and his great salvation in those scenes of 
the Old Testament history that belongs to the 
narratives, the doctrines and the commands of the 
New, for the plan of salvation was not fully 
revealed in advance of his work upon Calvary, and 
the ancient prophets searched in vain to know the 
full meaning of their words, whose fulfilment was 
reserved for more favoured times. But indeed as 
the sprouting stalk owes its chief value to the 
ripening grain it shall one day bear, as we think of 
these all as one plant, disregarding the changing 
times between the sowing and the maturity, so the 
Old Testament without the New, so the old 
prophets without the Great Prophet, are riddles one 
knows not how to solve. Appropriately Elijah 
returns to the earth, that, as the darkness of his 
own dispensation disperses, he may, in the dawning 
light of our dispensation, point us to his Lord and 
our own, may speak of the death accomplished at 
Jerusalem as the great topic of common interest for 



320 THE TRANSLATED PROPHET. 

all God's people, and then, as he disappears from 
our view, leaves before us this great sight, Jesus 
only. 

Knowing Jesus, we need not be ignorant of any 
otlier prophet of all that God has ever sent ; they 
all are his servants, they take nothing away from 
him, but stand ready to teach us of him. And 
because they would gladly have knowm what we 
are permitted to know, we should the more prize 
our privileges. Unhappy if we could learn all else 
that the world can teach us without knowing 
Christ, we shall be truly happy, whatever other 
ignorance may be ours, if as our Lord and 
Redeemer our souls savingly know Jesus only ! 



THE END. 



I 



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